At the heart of this discontent from telecoms users are; data depletion and declining service quality, issues they said, not only disrupt daily life but also threaten Nigeria’s digital economy.
Mobile operators have declined being responsible for the data depletion, insisting that consumers will benefit from increased education and awareness in the use of data control as some of the installed apps on mobile phones or laptops are data draining, whether in use or not. They, therefore, called for more awareness and education of mobile users on how to be prudent in data usage.
Customers’ Pain-Points
In recent years, mobile data has become as essential as electricity or fuel. It powers everything from online businesses to schoolwork and even basic communication. Yet across the country, users increasingly report that their data bundles deplete in record time—sometimes in just hours—with little to show for it.
At the same time, mobile phone users also alleged a decline in quality of service. Dropped calls, undelivered SMS (which still incur charges), sluggish internet speeds, and network downtime have become major concerns to Nigerians.
For many, the situation only worsened after the NCC approved a 50 percent tariff increase earlier this year, raising the price of 1GB of data from N350 to about N700, voice calls from N11 to N16.50 per minute, and SMS from N4 to N6.
Analysts said, these problems reflect a combination of infrastructure decay, high operating costs, and gaps in regulation and transparency.
For instance, Joy Mustapha, a secondary school teacher in Kaduna, said, online teaching has become frustrating. “I upload lessons for my students, but it takes forever to go through. Sometimes, the videos fail to send, and the data is already gone. It’s discouraging,” she cried out.
A ride-hailing driver in Lagos, Tunde Arowolo who relies heavily on data to get passenger bookings, stated that, “Sometimes I lose trips because the app freezes or won’t load. I spend up to N5,000 a week on data, and I still get poor service. It’s like I’m being punished for working.”
Still, a university student in Enugu, Blessing Okonkwo, shared her struggle with online classes, stating, “We have Zoom lectures and I have to keep my video off to save data. But even with that, I get disconnected often. And the data finishes quickly. I have stopped subscribing to daily plans—they’re useless.
Emmanuel Bassey, a digital artist in Kogi state, said poor service has affected his international freelance gigs, adding that, “Clients expect quick responses, but sometimes I’m offline for hours due to bad network. I’ve missed deadlines and even lost clients. It’s affecting my income.”
A petty trader in Kano, Zainab Mohammed, who uses WhatsApp to take orders for goods, shared, “I recharge small-small, but it doesn’t last. Even WhatsApp will be hanging. I have to borrow data almost every week.”
Regulator’s Defence
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), data is not being stolen by telecom operators.
Rather, the commission points to smartphone behaviours and technical issues. These include: Auto-play videos on websites and social media; Background app activities like auto-downloads and updates; Malware or spyware; Low-quality mobile devices that lack data optimisation and high-resolution streaming by default on 4G/5G networks.
NCC added that data depletion was one of the most prevalent complaints received from telecom consumers in the country, even as it noted that most of the complaints come as a result of the consumers’ migration to 4G/LTE technology.
“It is, therefore, important that we completely appreciate and understand the issues surrounding data depletion, its usage, and consumption in the era of 4G technology before we fully commence 5G usage. As much as the commission has an obligation to the telecom consumer, it also has an obligation to the Industry; a symbiotic relationship in which one party cannot survive without the other.
“The consumers are the basis for the operators’ business; if their interests are ignored, the operators’ investments would collapse, and there would be no industry for the Commission to regulate,” it stated.
Why Data Deplete
The director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, NCC, Engr. Edoyemi Ogoh, has stated that a number of variables, both technical and non-technical, can be attributed to the problem of data depletion that telecom subscribers are experiencing.
Ogoh said, technically, even if a user has merely opened a website to read text, most browsers play videos by default.
He mentioned other silent data-draining issues, such as automated app upgrades and smartphone uploads of images and videos to the cloud, while claiming that there are other technical aspects as well, such as the faster internet brought about by the switch to 4G, which automatically plays video in higher quality formats, using more bandwidth.
“Non-technical factors that contribute to data depletion are the growth of social media; online advertisements and default audio-visual activations in web browsers and apps; the use of subpar and fake subscriber devices; the expiration of data bundle usage timelines prior to data bundle exhaustion; and the low purchasing power of subscribers, which leads to the purchase of small bundle sizes with short periods of use,” he stated.
To back this up, the NCC conducted a Q3 2024 billing audit of major telecoms—MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile. We used independent auditors and didn’t find major issues,said executive vice chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida.
How Telecoms Operators Address Data Depletion
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have also weighed in. According to them, much of the problem lies in the user’s habits and the increasing complexity of mobile apps. MTN Nigeria, for instance, launched a consumer sensitisation campaign to educate users on data-saving strategies and monitoring tools available via telecom apps.
But consumer advocates argue this only scratches the surface. “Yes, education is needed. But that doesn’t excuse the lack of pricing transparency, the rigidity of data plans, or poor quality of service,” the chief executive of Jidaw Systems,Jide Awe stated. Despite the backlash, telecom operators say, they are investing heavily in infrastructure to address these issues.
At the Telecoms Forum in Lagos, MTN’s chief corporate services officer, Tobechukwu Okigbo said, the company is rolling out more 5G sites and fiber-optic lines, adding that, over 7,000 fiber cuts were repaired within six months—a major drain on operational efficiency.
Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, called the tariff hike a necessary intervention to ensure the telecom sector survives. The real gains will take a few months to materialise, he said.
Meanwhile, the NCC has promised stricter oversight. From January 2025, it plans to: Monitor Quality of Experience (QoE) alongside traditional Quality of Service (QoS) metrics; Simplify tariff plans to reduce consumer confusion and Collaborate more closely with telecom providers on transparency and enforcement.
Moreover, significant investments have been made by MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile, and Globacom to enhance service quality nationwide, even as operators said, reporting areas experiencing downtime can assist telcos in improving service quality in specific locations.
While Vandalism and theft targeting critical national infrastructure, such as masts and towers, negatively impact network performance and service quality, Telcos operators said they are actively addressing these network issues; however, resolution requires time and may not be immediate.
Nigeria has approximately 79,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables deployed nationwide. However, this infrastructure is currently insufficient to meet the country’s growing broadband demands. Over the past decade, these essential cables have been increasingly targeted by vandalism and theft. NCC had earlier reported over 50,000 cases of destruction to fiber optic cables and other telecommunication infrastructure in 2023. The NCC’s Q2 2023 report indicated that fiber optic infrastructure vandalism contributed to over 30 per cent of all reported network outage incidents. Even worse, sources within the regulatory body indicate that telecommunication companies face an average of 1,600 cable cuts per month.
Calling for public awareness on the purpose, avenues for data draining and data management tips, they advocated positive conversations around data management and smart ways to conserve data.
While reiterating the power of choice that consumers still have even after the tariff increase, experts said, customers are still able to find products and bundles that will satisfy their needs, price and quality, even if the previous product that they were accustomed to (e.g. MTN’s N2k for 16GB) is no longer available.
“There is always a product that can serve consumer needs at an affordable price. And customers should not get stuck on the old bundles that are no longer available, or whose prices have changed. Remember, MTN has tens of data bundles, voice products and enterprise products available to business and individual customers, serving both the low-end of the market (cheaper options) and high-end (premium options) customers, “ analysts pointed out.
Expecting that all the telcos will keep rolling out their old and new product options based on NCC’s new tariff guidelines and communicating them more to customers in the coming days, operators appealed to customers to be patient and see the various offerings in the market and find what best suits their needs.
Tips To Avoid Data Depletion
For MTN, on its website, it urged its customers to “recognise All Data Drains Email, file downloads/uploads, web browsing (especially media‐rich sites), instant messaging, video/music streaming, gaming, social apps, video calls, OS/app updates, cloud backups, and using your phone as a hotspot all eat into your bundle.”
The telecoms giant urged its service users to always “Update Apps Over Wi‐Fi Only as large app updates can consume hundreds of megabytes; saving them for Wi‐Fi prevents surprise data usage. Disable Mobile Data & Close Idle Apps. When you’re not actively browsing, turn off mobile data and shut unnecessary background apps to stop hidden drains.
“ Apps you no longer use can still run processes in the background—removing them frees up data and device resources. Also, limit Data‐Hungry Social Apps. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok auto‐play videos and images; restricting your usage cuts significant megabytes.
“Disable automatic media downloads in WhatsApp, Instagram, X, etc.,so photos and videos only load when you choose. Set app and system updates to run only over Wi‐Fi or at times you’re on broadband to avoid mobile‐data charges. Whenever possible, send big files—videos, high‐res images, docs—over trusted Wi‐Fi networks, not your mobile plan. Download areas in Google Maps (or similar) before you head out—offline navigation won’t tap your data, among others.”
Conclusion
Experts also believe long-term solutions will require more than investment or regulatory tweaks. They advocated a transition from traditional telecoms to full-service technology companies (TechCos) embracing AI, IoT, edge computing, and smarter infrastructure.
Still, considerable investment in network infrastructure and quality of service is the first in that direction. Network providers like MTN and Airtel are expected to invest heavily in this. MTN’s recently released Q1 2025 results revealed over N200 billion was invested in this endeavour in Q1 2025. Other telcos are expected to follow this pattern this year.
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