By Oloyede Grace Omowumi
Many Nigerian smartphone users encounter this issue, making it widespread, affecting various networks and applications. The lack of clear patterns or explanations has left many frustrated and anxious about future occurrences.As users continue to grapple with these unexplained data surges, there is a growing demand to identify the reasons behind excessive data consumption. This will help users manage and reduce it.The Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Nigerian Communications Commission has identified seven factors causing data depletion for mobile subscribers in Nigeria. According to the Commission, there are several factors causing data depletion for most subscribers, and these include:1. Background App Refresh :Many applications refresh their contents in the background, even when you’re not actively using them. They continuously fetch new data, updates, and notifications, which can quickly add up. Social media apps, email clients (eg. gmail), and news apps are common culprits.2. Advertisements : Many free apps rely on advertisements for revenue. “These ads consume data even if you don’t interact with them,” the commission stated.3. Roaming“If you travel abroad and use your phone, you may be subject to data roaming charges, which can quickly add up and deplete your data allowance.” The telecom regulator identified roaming as one of the factors that could lead to data depletion. 4. Automatic updates : Both your operating system and apps require updates to function optimally. However, if these updates are set to download automatically over your mobile data, they can consume a significant amount.5. Location services : Apps that use GPS and location services can also consume data in the background, according to the NCC, especially if you use navigation apps like Google Maps.6. Malware Malware and viruses can consume data without your knowledge.7. Excessive usage : One of the main reasons for data depletion is excessive usage. Web browsing. Streaming music, videos, and other media, web browsing, downloading large flies, or using data-intensive apps like social media platforms for a long time can cause your data to deplete quickly.