MTN Nigeria says your data is not being stolen as high resolution streaming, background apps, auto downloads and cloud backups are why bundles finish fast.
The explanation was given on Monday in Abuja at a forum tagged “Data on Trial” held on the sidelines of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit.
General Manager, Network Performance at MTN Nigeria, Mike Ndukwe, who spoke at the event, said most subscribers unknowingly exhaust their data through phone settings that keep consuming data even when they are not browsing.
He said TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp are among the biggest consumers. According to him, a 15-second TikTok video can consume between 2MB and 20MB depending on the quality, while HD streaming uses far more data than SD.
He explained that WhatsApp text messages use minimal data, but status videos, group messages and automatic media downloads quickly deplete bundles.
“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,” Ndukwe said.
He disclosed that WhatsApp has about 45 million users in Nigeria, while TikTok accounts for a huge share of data traffic, with national data consumption growing by about 43% year-on-year.
On how to reduce usage, he advised subscribers to disable auto downloads on WhatsApp, lower video resolution, enable data saver modes, set app updates and backups to Wi-Fi only, and monitor usage via the MyMTN app.
Also speaking, General Manager, IT Operations, David Ogunsola, said variations between data reading on phones and on the network are due to different metering systems.
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