While most Nigerians groaned over the telecom tariff increase of 2025, the CEO of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, said over the weekend that the review saved the country’s telecom sector from collapse.

Toriola disclosed this in Lagos during Data on Trial, a ‘public hearing’ on Nigeria’s nationwide data depletion complaints.

At the event, which pitched mobile users (the prosecution team) against the telecom giant (the defence team) in hours of intense debate and conversations, MTN dropped its corporate trappings and stepped into the dock to face the public directly.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in January 2025, approved a tariff hike that major network operators implemented in February last year.

Under the adjustment, operators were approved a 50 per cent tariff increase.

Alongside the hike, the NCC mandated network operators to improve the overall quality of services (QoS).

However, many citizens have complained that despite the increase, service providers have done little to improve network quality while accusing them of stealing customers’ data.

Throughout the event, MTN’s technical team members responded to questions frequently raised by consumers, including concerns around data depletion, billing accuracy, background application activity, automatic updates, cloud synchronisation, video streaming and multi-device connectivity.

To provide independent assurance on the integrity of its billing systems, KPMG had conducted an independent verification of the MTN data usage portal. The review assessed whether customer billing accurately reflected actual data consumption and covered records from April 1, 2026.

Speaking on factors affecting network providers in the country, Toriola said the operating environment remained a major challenge. He noted that while Nigerians desire a perfect mobile network, telecom companies cannot operate outside the country’s realities.

“We are in a country where area boys block us from refuelling a site and that site may go offline for two days. We are in a country where someone can set a manhole on fire, affecting 30,000 subscribers or damage a base station, impacting three million people. That is the nature of the security and infrastructure challenges we face. And these incidents happen from time to time.

“In the context of the operating environment we are in, I am proud that we provide a global standard of service. I use mobile networks in the U.S. and they are not as good as ours.”

On the tariff increase, he said: “The tariff increase was implemented to allow the industry to survive. At one point, we practically could not pay our bills and we were on the verge of shutting down sites. There was not enough money coming into MTN’s account to pay for diesel, rentals and other operational costs. We were effectively bankrupt. Without the tariff increase, we would have shut down the network.

“We invested over N900 billion last year; we will invest over N1 trillion this year. We spend more on expansion and maintenance than we make in profit every year, and this is a continuous investment.

“It was necessary for the industry first to survive and then continue to invest.”

On data depletion, he said: “Even within MTN, there are staff members who have not fully understood how their own data gets consumed. One of our staff members had 156GB of data on her WhatsApp, which she backed up every night, yet she questioned how her data disappeared.

“On the issue of unlimited data on mobile networks, it does not exist anywhere in the world unless you are paying about $400 monthly. There is always a limit because you can never build enough capacity for everyone to be on unlimited data bundles while still providing decent-quality service. It doesn’t work that way. As much as we would like to offer unlimited data, we would not be able to build a network capable of supporting it effectively.”

Speaking with The Guardian, Nigerian lawyer Timi Agbaje, who led the consumers’ team, said: “My expectations were met. My first goal in attending the programme was to see transparency and accountability. I am glad that MTN opened this platform to stakeholders and consumers. I also like the fact that they explained how data is used and what consumers can do to better manage their data usage.

Also speaking, the Chief Customer Relations and Experience Officer (CCREO), Ugonwa Nwoye, said: “The prosecution team was stellar. Those on the defence team also represented customers because that is what they do every day. They hold us accountable, and we are learning every day.”