The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, has urged Nigerians to optimise their mobile phone settings to manage data consumption and prevent unnecessary depletion of their data bundles.
Toriola made the plea on Monday night in Abuja at the ‘Data on Trial’ experience organised by MTN Nigeria.
The event was meant to address public concerns about data consumption and pricing in Nigeria.
Toriola said many factors were responsible for MTN data pricing including operational costs face by mobile telecommunication operators.
The MTN boss said operators incur significant expenses in providing electricity, transportation and other infrastructure required to maintain telecommunications sites.
He said that MTN spent about N4.05 trillion on power in the preceding year, highlighting the cost pressures affecting telecommunications operations.
“Even within the context of data being perceived as more expensive in Nigeria, the UK is the example I was giving. Please, understand that in this country, as well as some other African countries, we are providing power and transportation to all our sites. The cost of electricity, for instance, is higher here than in the UK,” he said.
Toriola explained that Nigerian operators deployed similar telecommunications equipment and technologies used in Europe and the U.S., including Fourth-Generation (4G) and Fifth-Generation (5G) networks.
He also said that ‘Data on Trial’ was designed to enlighten consumers on how phone settings, online activities and application preferences influenced data consumption.
Also speaking at the event, the General Manager, Network Performance and Quality Assurance at MTN Nigeria, Mr Mike Ndukwe, said video streaming, social media activities and automatic downloads were among the factors contributing to rapid data consumption.
Ndukwe explained that requesting a video on TikTok required relatively little data, while downloading and streaming the content consumed significantly more, depending on its resolution and duration.
According to him, a 15-second TikTok video could consume between two megabytes (MB) and 20MB, depending on its resolution, adding that high-definition videos generally consumed more data than standard-definition content.
He said that 4G and 5G networks supported higher-quality video streaming, which could increase data consumption when applications automatically selected higher resolutions.
Ndukwe said WhatsApp users could also experience rapid data depletion through automatic downloads, status updates, media shared in groups and chat backups.
He advised subscribers to disable automatic media downloads, restrict background data usage and configure applications to download large files only when connected to Wi-Fi.
He recommended enabling data-saving features on TikTok and other social media platforms, reducing video resolution and disabling automatic playback where possible.
He said MTN provided tools, including the MyMTN app, to enable customers to monitor data usage in real time and receive alerts.
On his part, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Communications, Mr Peter Akpatason, described the initiative as an opportunity to improve public understanding of data management and address misconceptions about the telecommunications industry.
Akpatason said the demonstration helped consumers understand how data was consumed and the measures they could take to prevent avoidable depletion.
He said the event also challenged the perception that data prices in Nigeria were higher than in other countries.
The lawmaker acknowledged the significant investment in the telecommunications sector, adding, however, that there was room for improved investment to for better service quality.
The event, hosted by popular Big Brother Naija presenter Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, provided subscribers with an opportunity to question the telecommunications company about their complaints over data depletion, pricing and the management of their subscriptions, with MTN officials offering insights to address the concerns.
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