Data on Trial: MTN Nigeria says KPMG audit found its data billing matches actual usage
MTN Nigeria said an independent review by KPMG found “complete alignment” between the data its customers consume and what they are billed, an assertion the telecom operator put forward on Saturday at its Data on Trial public event convened to confront persistent complaints about data depletion.
Data depletion and billing accuracy have long been among the most common grievances Nigerian subscribers raise against mobile operators. The Data on Trial event gathered consumers, journalists, content creators, technology experts and independent auditors on June 6, 2026, for what the telco giants described as an open examination of how data is measured, used and billed on its network.
Central to the day’s proceedings was a verification of MTN’s Data Usage Portal carried out by KPMG, which the operator commissioned. The review assessed whether customer billing reflected actual data consumption and covered records from April 1, 2026, onwards.
Presenting the findings, Collins Onah of KPMG said the firm’s analysis found that the data shown on the portal matched what customers were charged. He said the review examined how MTN captures consumption data and reconciles those records against the charges applied to subscriber accounts, and concluded that the portal accurately reflects usage and that billing is consistent with the records it captures.
MTN’s chief executive, Karl Toriola, framed the event around customer trust, arguing that confidence grows when customers can access information and reach their own conclusions. He said the volume of data people consume continues to rise as technology evolves, driven by the applications they use, the quality of content they stream and the growing number of connected devices — making it important, in his view, that consumers understand what drives their usage and how it is measured.
Through the session, MTN’s technical staff fielded questions on issues frequently raised by subscribers, including data depletion, billing accuracy, background app activity, automatic updates, cloud synchronisation, video streaming and connecting multiple devices to one line.
The event also drew contributions from consumer advocates, creators and other technology stakeholders, who put questions directly to the company’s experts. MTN said opening its systems and processes to public scrutiny was intended to deepen consumer understanding, build trust and promote digital literacy.
