The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, has urged Nigerians to optimise their mobile phone settings to manage data consumption and prevent unnecessary depletion of data bundles.
Toriola made the call at the Data on Trial experience organised by MTN Nigeria in Abuja on Monday to address public concerns about data consumption and pricing.
He attributed data pricing partly to the high cost of operating telecommunications infrastructure, including electricity, transportation and the maintenance of network sites.
According to him, MTN spent about N4.05 trillion on power in the preceding year, highlighting the cost pressures facing telecommunications operators.
“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 telecommunications equipment and technologies comparable to those used in Europe and the United States, including fourth-generation (4G) and fifth-generation (5G) networks.
He said the Data on Trial initiative was designed to help consumers understand how phone settings, online activities and application preferences influenced data consumption.
Earlier, the Chairman of the 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 showed consumers how data was consumed and how to prevent avoidable depletion.
He said the event also challenged perceptions that data prices in Nigeria were higher than in other countries.
The lawmaker acknowledged the significant investment required in the telecommunications sector but said more investment was needed to improve service quality.
The General Manager, Network Performance and Quality Assurance at MTN Nigeria, Mr Mike Ndukwe, identified video streaming, social media activities and automatic downloads as major contributors to rapid data consumption.
He explained that opening a video on TikTok consumed relatively little data, while streaming or downloading the content used significantly more, depending on its resolution and duration.
According to Ndukwe, a 15-second TikTok video could consume between two megabytes (MB) and 20MB, with high-definition videos generally using more data than standard-definition content.
He said 4G and 5G networks enabled higher-quality video streaming, but data consumption could rise when applications automatically selected higher resolutions.
Ndukwe added that automatic downloads, status updates, media shared in WhatsApp groups and chat backups could also accelerate data depletion.
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 also recommended enabling data-saving features on TikTok and other social media platforms, lowering video resolution and disabling automatic playback where possible.
Ndukwe said MTN provided tools, including the MyMTN app, to help customers monitor their data usage and receive alerts.
He added that the company offered MTN FiberX, an unlimited data option for customers with high data requirements, subject to applicable terms.
Ndukwe urged subscribers to understand how their devices and applications consumed data, saying online activities and phone settings were important factors in data depletion.
