By Akande Faith Olajumoke
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has provided an explanation of the issues, refuting claims that telecom operators—particularly the four companies MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile—are to blame for the increase in customer data depletion.Seven factors have been identified by NCC through its Consumer Affairs Bureau as the reason behind Nigerian mobile subscribers’ data depletion. NCC informed telecom customers via SMS with the subject line “NCC Data Tip” that they could prolong the use of their data. Proceed to Settings, select Connections, Data Usage, and finally activate Data Saving.
In fact, the directive from the telecoms regulator clarified that the majority of subscribers experience data depletion due to a variety of factors. Among them are background apps, malware, roaming, automatic updates, location services, ads, and excessive usage.
Regarding background apps, NCC found that certain apps use data even when users are not actively using them. It was mentioned that using background data can quickly mount up and consume all of the allotted data.
The Commission also mentioned how operating systems, apps, and other software updates automatically can consume a large amount of data.
According to NCC, GPS and other location services can consume a lot of data, especially if the user uses navigation apps like Google Maps.
The telecoms regulator said some apps display ads that use data. “These ads can consume data even if you don’t interact with them,” the Commission stated.
The NCC also listed roaming as a potential contributing factor to data depletion. “If you use your phone while traveling overseas, you might be charged for data roaming, which can quickly add up and use up all of your allotted data.”
The Commission also mentioned that viruses and malware can use up data without you realizing it. “You should remove the malware from your phone as soon as you suspect it has been infected.”
Excessive usage is one of the primary causes of data depletion, according to the NCC. Your data limit can be rapidly used up if you download big files, stream videos or music, or use data-intensive apps for extended periods of time on your phone.
Nonetheless, the NCC recommended that users disable automatic updates, constantly check their data usage, and disable background data use for particular apps in order to lower the frequency of data depletion.
Additionally, because certain apps’ location services use a lot of data, the Commission recommended mobile users to turn them off. The telecommunications regulator recommended ad-blockers for users to block unsolicited advertisements.
In order to avoid using cellular data, the regulator also advised mobile subscribers to connect to Wi-Fi whenever possible.
“You can access Wi-Fi in public spaces like cafes and libraries, as well as at home and at work,” the Commission said. Largely, the regulator said any subscriber that consistently runs out of data should consider upgrading to a larger data In general, the regulator advised subscribers who frequently run out of data to think about upgrading to a larger data plan.