When Expensive Data Fails Nigerians

As subscribers complain of rapidly vanishing data and frustrating connectivity, telecom operators insist that modern smartphones and changing digital habits, rather than manipulation of data balances, largely explain the problem, writes

Emma Okonji

There could hardly be a more painful illustration of Nigeria’s troubled digital experience than the recent viral video of a young job applicant lamenting the loss of an employment opportunity because his data failed him midway through an online interview.

For the applicant, it was more than an inconvenient network interruption. Somewhere between answering questions and trying to convince prospective employers of his suitability, his data bundle ran out. The interview was disrupted and, according to him, the opportunity disappeared with it.

His experience struck a familiar chord because millions of Nigerians increasingly depend on mobile data for activities that determine their livelihoods. Banking, education, commerce, job interviews, professional meetings and communication have migrated online. Consequently, unreliable or rapidly disappearing data is no longer merely an irritation. It carries economic consequences.

This explains the anger increasingly directed at telecommunications operators.

Subscribers complain that data bundles purchased at considerable cost vanish inexplicably quickly. Others encounter the particularly frustrating combination of poor connectivity and rapid depletion: videos take ages to download, virtual meetings freeze, websites struggle to open, yet the data meter appears to be running enthusiastically.

Against the backdrop of rising living costs, these experiences have fuelled allegations that operators deliberately deplete subscribers’ data.

The telecommunications companies vehemently reject that charge.

Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, argues that operators have neither the incentive nor the technological capacity to arbitrarily manipulate customers’ balances.

“Telecommunications operators have absolutely no commercial incentive to steal customers’ data,” he said, describing such conduct as unlawful, unethical and commercially self-defeating.

According to him, every megabyte consumed is recorded through internationally standardised billing systems supplied by recognised technology vendors. These systems, he said, are independently audited and designed to make billing transparent and verifiable.

If operators are not stealing data, therefore, why does it disappear so quickly?

The industry’s answer lies largely inside the smartphone.

The Hungry Smartphone

The mobile telephone has changed dramatically. The relatively simple devices of yesterday have become powerful computers that run dozens of applications and communicate constantly with the internet.

“Unlike a decade ago, smartphones now run dozens of applications in the background,” Adebayo explained.

Cloud backups, software updates, application synchronisation, social media autoplay, high-definition videos, artificial intelligence services, location tracking, and security updates can all consume data without the owner actively browsing.

Adebayo estimates that high-definition video streaming may consume more than 3GB per hour. A major software update can similarly consume hundreds of megabytes. Add automatic photo backups, WhatsApp downloads, Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, and applications refreshing quietly in the background, and the mystery surrounding disappearing data becomes less mysterious.

MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola makes a similar argument.

According to him, many complaints arise from the growing volume of data consumed by modern digital services, particularly video streaming, cloud storage, software updates, artificial intelligence applications and background smartphone activities.

The paradox is that better technology can actually encourage greater consumption.

A subscriber moving from an older telephone to a sophisticated 4G or 5G device may expect the same data bundle to last as long as before. It probably will not.

MTN technical experts offered an illuminating illustration. A 15-second TikTok video viewed at low resolution could consume about three megabytes. In comparison, the same short video displayed in high definition over a faster 4G or 5G connection could consume as much as 15 megabytes.

The customer sees the same 15-second video. The network sees vastly different data volumes.

When Faster Means More

This is one of the great ironies of Nigeria’s transition towards faster mobile networks.

Consumers understandably associate technological advancement with efficiency. A 5G connection should be faster than 3G, and it is. But greater speed enables applications to download richer content almost instantaneously. Streaming platforms may automatically increase picture quality when they detect a faster connection.

The result is that speed can become consumption. A subscriber who previously watched videos at modest resolution may suddenly be streaming high-definition content without consciously changing any setting. The experience improves, but the data bundle empties more quickly.

Nevertheless, technical explanations can obscure consumers’ legitimate grievances.

Subscribers do not purchase megabytes merely to admire sophisticated billing technology. They purchase connectivity.

A perfectly accurate billing system is little consolation to someone whose online interview collapses due to an unstable connection. Neither does explaining background applications fully address complaints about videos that repeatedly buffer while subscribers watch their balances decline.

The operators therefore have two separate cases to answer: perceived data depletion and quality of service.

The first may indeed owe considerably to changing technology and consumer behaviour. The second rests squarely with the industry, even though vandalism, fibre cuts, power shortages, and other infrastructure problems can affect network performance.

The Cost of Poor Connectivity

Nigeria’s data-quality debate has become particularly important because connectivity is increasingly economic infrastructure.

For a trader receiving digital payments, an unreliable network can mean a lost transaction. For a student writing an online examination, it can determine academic performance. For an entrepreneur attending a virtual meeting, it can cost a contract. For a job applicant, as the viral video demonstrated, it can mean a lost opportunity.

Telecommunications operators must therefore recognise that expectations have changed.

Consumers deserve clearer information about precisely how their data is being consumed. Operators can provide more accessible usage dashboards, real-time alerts, and tools that distinguish among streaming, background applications, and other consumption categories.

Consumers also have responsibilities.

They can disable unnecessary background applications, turn off automatic updates over mobile networks, reduce video resolution, restrict automatic cloud backups and use the data-management facilities available on smartphones.

But consumer education cannot substitute for network investment.

Nigeria cannot aspire to build a digital economy while citizens routinely struggle to maintain ordinary video calls. The expansion of fibre infrastructure, improved network capacity and consistent investment in 4G and 5G must accompany lectures about smartphone settings.

The dispute over disappearing data may therefore have no single villain.

Operators have offered plausible technical explanations for why modern devices consume substantially more data. Consumers, however, are equally justified in demanding that increasingly expensive connectivity should deliver commensurate quality.

That young applicant wanted neither a telecommunications tutorial nor an explanation of background applications. He wanted enough reliable connectivity to finish a job interview.

In Nigeria’s emerging digital economy, that should not be too much to ask.