MTN says phone settings, video streaming drain data bundles fastest

MTN Nigeria has told subscribers that most of the data that disappears from their bundles is used up by their own phones, not taken by the network. The company spoke at a forum it called "Data on Trial" in Abuja on Monday, held alongside the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit.

Mike Ndukwe, MTN Nigeria's general manager of network performance, said the amount of data a subscriber burns depends on what they do online and how their device is set up. "We're not stealing your data," he said, adding that data is not used "without an action, either your action or your phone."

The explanation comes as many Nigerians complain that bundles finish far faster than they expect, at a time when every naira counts for households.

What is eating your bundle

According to Ndukwe, short videos are a big culprit. A 15-second TikTok clip can use between 2 megabytes and 20 megabytes, depending on its resolution, he said. YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp also draw heavily on data when videos play automatically or at high quality.

WhatsApp is the most common app in the mix. Ndukwe put its Nigerian user base at about 45 million. Text messages use very little data, he said, but status videos, media in group chats and automatic downloads can empty a bundle quickly. "If your WhatsApp is set on auto-download, straight away it hits your data bundle," he said.

Kevin Kojode, northwest sales manager for Xiaomi Nigeria, listed software updates, cloud backups, apps running in the background and open hotspot connections as other quiet consumers. "Today, users don't just go online, they stay online," he said.

David Ogunsola, MTN's general manager of IT operations, said the figure a phone records can differ from what the network charges because of how each side measures traffic and rounds it off. The gap can range from about 2 per cent to 12 per cent in some cases, he said.

Why MTN says data costs what it does

MTN Nigeria chief executive Karl Toriola defended the price of data by pointing to running costs. He said the company spent about ₦4.05 trillion on power in 2025, because operators here supply electricity and transport to their own sites. Electricity costs more in Nigeria than in the UK, he said, even though the equipment used is similar to what obtains in Europe and the United States.

Peter Akpatason, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Communications, said the forum would help clear up misunderstandings about the industry. He added that operators still need to invest more to improve service quality.

The company advised subscribers to switch off automatic media downloads, lower streaming quality, allow big updates only on Wi-Fi, set data limits and track usage on the MyMTN app.

What happens next: The advice puts the focus on settings Nigerians can change themselves. It does not settle the wider argument over data prices and network quality, which regulators and lawmakers continue to press.