MTN tok say phone settings and video streaming dey finish data bundle fast

MTN Nigeria don tell customers say most of di data wey dey disappear from dia bundles na dia own phones dey use, no be di network dey take am. Di company talk dis one for one forum wey dem call "Data on Trial" for Abuja on Monday, wey dem hold with di 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit.

Mike Ndukwe, MTN Nigeria general manager of network performance, talk say di amount of data wey customer dey burn depend on wetin dem dey do online and how dem set dia device. "We no dey steal your data," e talk, adding say data no dey used "without an action, either your action or your phone."

Di explanation come as plenty Nigerians dey complain say bundles dey finish far faster than dem expect, for time wey every naira count for households.

Wetin dey chop your bundle

According to Ndukwe, short videos na big culprit. One 15-second TikTok clip fit use between 2 megabytes and 20 megabytes, depending on di resolution, e talk. YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp also dey draw heavily on data when videos play automatically or for high quality.

WhatsApp na di most common app for di mix. Ndukwe put im Nigerian user base at about 45 million. Text messages dey use very small data, e talk, but status videos, media for group chats and automatic downloads fit empty bundle quick. "If your WhatsApp set on auto-download, straight away e go hit your data bundle," e talk.

Kevin Kojode, northwest sales manager for Xiaomi Nigeria, list software updates, cloud backups, apps wey dey run for background and open hotspot connections as other quiet consumers. "Today, users no just dey go online, dem dey stay online," e talk.

David Ogunsola, MTN general manager of IT operations, talk say di figure wey phone record fit differ from wetin di network charge because of how each side dey measure traffic and round am off. Di gap fit range from about 2 per cent to 12 per cent for some cases, e talk.

Why MTN talk say data cost wetin e cost

MTN Nigeria chief executive Karl Toriola defend di price of data by pointing to running costs. E talk say di company spend about ₦4.05 trillion on power for 2025, because operators for here dey supply electricity and transport to dia own sites. Electricity cost more for Nigeria than for UK, e talk, even though di equipment wey dem dey use similar to wetin dey for Europe and United States.

Peter Akpatason, wey chair di House of Representatives Committee on Communications, talk say di forum go help clear up misunderstandings about di industry. E add say operators still need to invest more to improve service quality.

Di company advise customers to switch off automatic media downloads, lower streaming quality, allow big updates only on Wi-Fi, set data limits and track usage on di MyMTN app.

Wetin go happen next: Di advice put focus on settings wey Nigerians fit change by demself. E no settle di wider argument over data prices and network quality, wey regulators and lawmakers continue to press.