MTN Nigeria has rejected allegations that telecommunications operators deliberately deplete subscribers’ data bundles, blaming rapid consumption largely on smartphone settings, video streaming, automatic downloads and applications running in the background.
The position was reinforced by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Communications and ICT, Peter Akpatason, who said many subscribers misunderstood how their data was consumed and could avoid unnecessary depletion by taking protective measures.
According to The Guardian in a report published on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, the two officials spoke at MTN Nigeria’s “Data on Trial” event in Abuja on Monday, where the company opened its data management practices to questions from customers and other stakeholders.
MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said the event was organised in response to persistent complaints about disappearing data balances and dissatisfaction with operators’ explanations.
“We have heard our customers in terms of their discomfort in their perception of disappearing data, how their data is consumed, and how we explain this to them,” Toriola said.
He said the engagement was intended to allow subscribers to question the company’s practices while giving MTN an opportunity to explain how data was consumed and billed.
Akpatason said the event helped address misconceptions about data depletion and gave consumers a better understanding of how to manage their subscriptions.
“We saw a whole lot of misconceptions that people had about data getting eroded when they didn’t use it, only to find out that they had missed certain protective measures for such data,” he said.
The lawmaker also addressed concerns about the cost of mobile internet in Nigeria, saying the discussions provided an opportunity to examine assumptions about data pricing.
MTN’s General Manager of Network Performance and Quality Assurance, Mike Ndukwe, explained that data consumption depends on how subscribers use their devices and configure their applications.
In a report published by The PUNCH on Tuesday, October 27, Ndukwe identified high-resolution video streaming, automatic downloads, background applications and cloud backups as factors that can exhaust data bundles faster than users expect.
He cited platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp, noting that their data requirements vary according to video quality, automatic playback and download settings.
Ndukwe said a 15-second TikTok video could consume between two and 20 megabytes, depending on its quality. He also warned that automatic media downloads on WhatsApp could quickly reduce a subscriber’s available data.
Subscribers can reduce consumption by disabling automatic downloads, lowering video resolution, restricting background data and monitoring usage through their phones or their network provider’s application.
MTN’s General Manager of IT Operations, David Ogunsola, also explained that data measurements displayed on smartphones may differ from the figures recorded by telecommunications networks because the two systems measure usage differently.
The discussion comes amid continuing complaints from Nigerian subscribers about how quickly their internet bundles run out, particularly as mobile data remains important for work, education, communication and business transactions.
Although MTN and the lawmakers highlighted consumer awareness and device settings as factors behind unexpected depletion, clear billing information remains important in resolving disputes between subscribers and operators.
Providing customers with understandable usage records and a clear process for investigating disputed deductions would help them establish how their data was consumed and seek explanations where discrepancies arise.
The event therefore placed consumer education, transparency and a better understanding of mobile data usage at the centre of efforts to address the longstanding controversy over disappearing data bundles.
