MTN Defends Data Pricing, Usage as ABU Students Demand Answers
For many Nigerian students, buying mobile data can feel like watching money disappear from their phones.
Participants at the event in ABU,Zaria
A bundle purchased with the expectation of lasting several days can sometimes run out sooner than expected, leaving users wondering where the data went.
That frustration came under scrutiny at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where telecommunications giant MTN Nigeria took its data services before students in an interactive session designed to explain how mobile data is consumed and address concerns over pricing, service quality and rapid depletion.
The session, held on Thursday, August 28, at the Abdullahi Mahadi Conference Centre, was organised under MTN Nigeria’s “Data on Trial” initiative.
The courtroom-style engagement turned students from the university’s Faculties of Law and Engineering into the prosecution, while MTN officials formed the defence team.
Lawyer and media personality, Timi Agbaje, presided over the session, allowing students to put their everyday experiences with mobile data on trial and demand explanations from the telecommunications company.
The students raised questions about the quality and consistency of network connections, the affordability of data amid rising living costs, changes in data prices, refunds following service interruptions and the speed at which data bundles are sometimes exhausted.
MTN’s defence team responded by explaining some of the factors that determine data consumption and how users can monitor and control their usage.
The students were told that activities such as video streaming, social media browsing, automatic updates and applications running in the background can consume significant amounts of data, sometimes without the user being immediately aware.
They were also introduced to built-in data-monitoring tools on mobile devices, the MyMTN app and data usage calculators, which can help users track their consumption in real time.
For some of the students, the session challenged long-held assumptions about why their data disappears so quickly.
A 500-level Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering student, Abdullahi Omeiza, said he had previously believed that the network was becoming less efficient because a two-gigabyte data bundle could barely last him two days.
But after the session, he said he had gained a better understanding of how modern smartphones, higher video quality and other digital services could increase data consumption.
“I used to feel services weren’t as efficient because 2GB barely lasts two days anymore. But after understanding how visual quality upgrades and background processes demand more data to run smoothly, I now see why it feels like data runs out so fast.”
Another student, Beracah, a 400-level Political Science student, said the engagement helped change some of her earlier assumptions about MTN’s data services.
She said she had previously questioned why data prices changed and whether the company was sufficiently concerned about customers.
According to her, learning how to track data usage directly from a phone provided a different perspective.
“Most importantly, our data isn’t finishing magically.”
Beracah said the session also demonstrated MTN’s emphasis on transparency and accountability.
For Hamdalah, a 300-level Computer Science student, the major lesson was that rapid data depletion does not automatically mean a network provider is responsible.
She said applications such as TikTok and other streaming platforms, as well as background applications and automatic updates, could consume substantial amounts of data.
“I learnt that apps like TikTok and other streaming platforms can consume a lot of data, alongside background apps and automatic updates in my phone. I also learnt practical ways to monitor my data usage and manage it better.”
A 400-level student of Educational Administration and Planning, Toyo, said her biggest takeaway was discovering how many processes could continue running in the background of a smartphone and consume data without the user’s immediate knowledge.
Although she said she had not yet had enough time to closely monitor her consumption after the session, she acknowledged that the engagement had given her a better understanding of MTN’s data services.
The ABU session is part of MTN Nigeria’s wider effort to engage customers directly over concerns surrounding data consumption and pricing.
At the launch of the initiative in Lagos, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Karl Toriola, stated that the company was committed to providing evidence and explanations rather than asking customers to accept its claims without question.
“We are not asking customers to trust us blindly. We want them to see the evidence and understand exactly how data is consumed,” Toriola said.
He added that MTN would not deliberately deprive customers of the data they had purchased.
The “Data on Trial” initiative therefore goes beyond a corporate defence of data pricing and consumption. It is also an attempt to give customers, particularly young Nigerians who depend heavily on mobile internet for education, communication, entertainment and business, the tools to understand what happens to their data once they switch on their phones.
For the students at ABU, the courtroom may have been symbolic, but the questions were real: How much data are they actually using, what is consuming it, and how can they make every megabyte count?
