MTN Nigeria has attributed the rapid depletion of subscribers’ internet data bundles to high-resolution video streaming, automatic downloads, background applications, cloud backups and increased internet activity, dismissing allegations that telecommunications operators deliberately deduct customers’ data.
The telecommunications company explained that many subscribers unknowingly consume substantial amounts of data through smartphone settings and applications that continue operating even when users are not actively browsing.
Speaking at a forum tagged “Data on Trial,” held in Abuja on Monday on the sidelines of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, MTN Nigeria’s General Manager of Network Performance, Mike Ndukwe, said data consumption was largely determined by subscribers’ activities and device configurations.
“We’re not stealing your data. However, we completely understand how it feels, especially right now, where every amount counts. But the honest answer is that data is not taken without an action, either your action or your phone,” he said.
Ndukwe explained that applications such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp consume varying amounts of data depending on video resolution, automatic playback and the frequency of downloads.
According to him, a 15-second TikTok video could consume between two and 20 megabytes, depending on its quality, while high-definition streaming requires substantially more data than standard-definition viewing.
He said WhatsApp messages generally consume minimal data, but status updates, videos, group messages and automatic media downloads could exhaust subscriptions faster than users anticipated.
