MTN Nigeria has explained why many Nigerians use up their internet data faster than expected, blaming activities such as watching videos, automatic downloads, background applications and cloud backups.
Speaking at a forum tagged ‘Data on Trial’ in Abuja on Monday, held on the sidelines of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, MTN Nigeria’s General Manager of Network Performance, Mike Ndukwe, said the amount of data people use depends largely on their online activities and phone settings.
‘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,’ he said.
Ndukwe explained that applications such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp could consume large amounts of data, depending on how people use them.
He said WhatsApp text messages generally consume little data. However, watching status updates, downloading videos and receiving media files automatically in group chats could make subscribers use up their data bundles quickly.
Ndukwe advised users to switch off automatic downloads to reduce data consumption.
‘If your WhatsApp is set on auto-download, straight away it hits your data bundle. And that is where you can optimise some of your settings,’ he said.
He disclosed that WhatsApp had about 45 million users in Nigeria, while TikTok was among the platforms generating significant internet traffic.
The Northwest Sales Manager of Xiaomi Nigeria, Kevin Kojode, also identified automatic software updates, cloud backups, background applications and unrestricted hotspot connections as factors that could cause data to run out quickly.
‘Today, users don’t just go online, they stay online,’ Kojode said.
Using a one-gigabyte data subscription as an example, he explained that software updates, cloud backups and other activities running in the background could consume data even when users were not actively downloading files.
Kojode advised subscribers to set their phones to download software updates only when connected to Wi-Fi, monitor their data usage and restrict hotspot access to prevent others from using their subscriptions without their knowledge.
He also recommended reducing video quality and using phone features that allow users to set data limits and track consumption.
Kojode said understanding smartphone settings and managing applications properly could help Nigerians make their data subscriptions last longer.
He also recommended reducing video quality and using phone features that allow users to set data limits and track consumption.
Kojode said understanding smartphone settings and managing applications properly could help Nigerians make their data subscriptions last longer.