The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, and the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Communications and ICT, Peter Akpatason, have challenged claims that telecommunications operators deliberately deplete subscribers’ data.

They spoke at MTN Nigeria’s “Data on Trial” event in Abuja on Monday, where subscribers’ concerns about unexplained data consumption took centre stage.

Akpatason said the event had helped dispel misconceptions about data depletion and given 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.

He noted that the forum also addressed the perception that mobile data costs more in Nigeria than in other countries.

Akpatason said the discussions had provided an opportunity to examine the issue and correct some of the assumptions surrounding data pricing.

“It was an opportunity for people to understand it better, and I quite appreciate it,” he added.

The lawmaker also described telecommunications as one of Nigeria’s major investment destinations outside the oil sector. He urged more Nigerians to invest in the industry, which he said still had room for growth.

Earlier, Toriola said MTN organised the event in response to customers’ concerns about how quickly their data allowances ran out and the explanations operators provided.

He said the company decided to subject its data management practices to public scrutiny to encourage open discussions and address subscribers’ complaints.

“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 praised the organisers for allowing customers and other stakeholders to question the company’s practices.

“One thing I will give the Data on Trial event team and MTN credit for is the courage to stand up, to be interrogated, to be vulnerable, and to listen to customers,” he said.

Toriola added that the initiative aimed to strengthen consumer confidence through education and transparency.

MTN’s General Manager of Network Performance and Quality Assurance, Michael Ndukwe, and other technical team members explained how device specifications, screen resolution, applications and network conditions influence data consumption.

They identified social media platforms such as X and TikTok as examples of applications whose data requirements can vary with usage patterns and settings. Video quality, automatic downloads and applications running in the background can also increase consumption.

Many participants arrived with complaints about what they considered wrongful deductions from their data bundles.

However, the company’s technical team demonstrated how activities they might overlook could use their data, even when they were not actively browsing.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has previously advised subscribers to monitor their data usage and seek explanations from their service providers when they notice discrepancies.

The regulator recommends that consumers request their usage history from their operators if their data balances appear inconsistent with their activities.

Subscribers who remain dissatisfied with the response can escalate complaints to the NCC through its toll-free line, 622.

The NCC advises users to activate data-saving features, reduce video quality and disable automatic downloads where necessary.

The NCC’s guidance places responsibility on both operators and consumers to address data-related complaints through usage monitoring, clear explanations and established complaint channels.