MTN Nigeria has attributed the rapid depletion of subscribers’ internet data bundles to high-resolution video streaming, automatic downloads, background applications and cloud backups, dismissing allegations that telecommunications operators deliberately deduct customers’ data.

The company said many smartphone users unknowingly consume large amounts of data through applications and device settings that continue operating even when they are not actively browsing.

MTN Nigeria’s General Manager of Network Performance, Mike Ndukwe, stated this at a forum tagged Data on Trial, held in Abuja on Monday on the sidelines of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit.

Ndukwe explained that data consumption largely depended on subscribers’ online activities, application settings and smartphone configurations.

He identified TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp as some of the applications that could consume significant amounts of data, depending on video quality, automatic playback and download settings.

According to him, a 15-second TikTok video could consume between two and 20 megabytes, depending on its resolution, while high-definition video streaming uses substantially more data than standard-definition viewing.

Ndukwe noted that although WhatsApp messages generally consume little data, status updates, videos, group conversations and automatic media downloads could quickly exhaust subscribers’ data bundles.

He disclosed that WhatsApp had approximately 45 million users in Nigeria, while TikTok was among the platforms generating substantial data traffic.

He advised subscribers to disable automatic downloads, lower video streaming quality, activate data-saving features and monitor their consumption through the MyMTN application.

Also speaking, MTN Nigeria’s General Manager of IT Operations, David Ogunsola, explained that differences between data consumption figures displayed on smartphones and those recorded by telecommunications networks could result from variations in measurement methods, background traffic and the timing of data sessions.

He stated that measurement variations and rounding could produce differences ranging from two per cent to approximately 12 per cent in some circumstances.

Ogunsola added that network technology primarily determined connection speed, while application settings and video quality influenced the volume of data consumed.

He maintained that Nigerian telecommunications operators deployed equipment comparable to those used in Europe and the United States but faced higher operating costs, particularly for electricity.

Using a one-gigabyte subscription as an illustration, Kojode explained how background updates, cloud backups and operating-system activities could consume data without subscribers deliberately initiating downloads.

He advised users to restrict automatic updates to Wi-Fi connections, activate data limits, monitor hotspot connections and reduce video streaming quality.

Kojode further highlighted smartphone features that allow users to monitor data consumption and control data sharing, stressing that a better understanding of device settings could help Nigerians manage their subscriptions more efficiently.