MTN Nigeria chief executive officer Karl Toriola has advised subscribers to disable automatic app updates and backups on mobile networks if they want to reduce data consumption.
He gave the advice on Saturday during Data on Trial, a public hearing held at MTN’s headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos, to address growing concerns among subscribers about mobile data usage and depletion.
The event was moderated by media personality Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and attended by content creators and influencers including Peller, Jarvis, Taaooma and Mr Macaroni.
Designed as a courtroom style inquiry, the session brought together consumers, technology experts and network engineers to examine how mobile data is measured, consumed and billed.
In his opening remarks, Toriola acknowledged the concerns many subscribers have about how quickly their data is exhausted.
He said, “I’ve been tracking the YouTube chats and the comments say that Ebuka you are deliberately wasting time so that their data will be consumed. But that’s the reality of how people feel. Okay. And we’re here for one reason, because consistently, the discussion in our industry has been around how your data is being consumed.”
He said MTN organised the hearing to provide information that would help consumers understand how data is used on their devices.
The CEO added, “And we thought that it’s best to actually put ourselves on trial. Ultimately, the consumers will make up their minds. But what we can do is give them as much information as possible to come to the conclusions that they want to.”
Toriola urged subscribers to pay closer attention to settings that consume data in the background.
“If there’s one advice I have for you is to manage your data, switch off auto backup and auto updates over the mobile network for every single application, especially things like iCloud, auto updates of all of your apps. That is the one piece of advice I have for you. It consumes an incredible amount of data in the background. You don’t realize it,” he said.
Responding to questions at the end of the session, he said even some MTN employees have been surprised by how much data their devices consume because of settings they were unaware of.
Mr Toriola said, “But Ugo told us about one of our staff that has 123, 156 gigabytes of data backup on their WhatsApp and is backing it up every night. Our own staff, a chief officer of MTN, and is now surprised. And he’s attacking MTN, saying, how is my data disappearing? There’s a reason.”
He also recalled another case involving a staff member whose children were streaming YouTube videos continuously through a 5G router, resulting in heavy data usage.
Toriola also addressed concerns about the telecom industry’s operating environment, citing challenges such as vandalism, insecurity and disruptions to network infrastructure.
On the 50 per cent tariff increase approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in January 2025, he said the adjustment was necessary for the industry’s survival.
He said, “At the point in time where the tariff increase was implemented, we practically could not pay our bills. We were on the verge of shutting down sites.”
He added that the company had continued investing heavily in network expansion and maintenance despite the challenges.
The hearing follows years of complaints from subscribers who claim their data bundles are depleted faster than expected. Concerns intensified after the tariff increase led to higher costs for voice and data services.
In recent months, social media platforms have seen a surge in complaints from subscribers questioning how their data is calculated and deducted, with consumer groups repeatedly calling on telecom operators to provide greater transparency.
