MTN to launch data-usage portal by end of June
MTN Nigeria says it will roll out a data-usage transparency portal before the end of June, letting subscribers track how their bundles are spent, as the operator tries to quiet persistent complaints that mobile data runs out too quickly.
The plan was announced on Saturday at the company’s “Data on Trial” event in Lagos. Tobe Okigbo, MTN’s chief corporate services and sustainability officer, said the portal would be built into the company’s self-service platforms and mobile app so customers can see and understand their usage patterns, and would be especially useful for router users. He said it was being tested with members of the public first to make sure the information presented is clear rather than confusing.
The move responds to a recurring grievance among Nigerian subscribers, who have long questioned how fast their data bundles deplete. Okigbo said MTN would also open its billing and network operations to public examination — streamed live so consumers and stakeholders nationwide could follow and ask questions — and invited Nigerians to flag problems directly. He pointed to a similar approach the company took over earlier complaints about unauthorised value-added service charges, when it suspended the affected services, submitted its systems to regulatory review and rebuilt customer confidence.
MTN’s technical executives used the event to push back on the idea that operators skim data arbitrarily. Mike Ndukwe, general manager for network quality, said data is consumed when subscribers stream video, browse, download files or run apps in the background, and advised customers to lower video resolution, limit background activity and check device settings. He said usage is measured against globally recognised standards and that MTN’s billing is audited periodically by the Nigerian Communications Commission and independent assessors.
On service quality, Asura Mshelia, general manager for network services, said performance depends on a chain of systems — base stations, transmission links, switching centres and internet gateways — and can be degraded by congestion, power outages, equipment faults and fibre cuts. He said vandalism remains a serious problem, with hundreds of attacks recorded on MTN infrastructure, including theft of generators, batteries and solar equipment, and noted that fibre cuts from road construction and sabotage routinely knock out service for large numbers of users.
MTN chief executive Karl Toriola, meanwhile, argued that Nigerian mobile data is among the cheapest anywhere, urging critics to compare local bundle prices with those in Kenya, Congo and elsewhere, while acknowledging Ghana’s prices are also low. He said even senior telecoms executives are caught out by automated phone settings that consume data, and pressed Nigerians to recognise the difficult operating environment.
Toriola said MTN spent ₦900 billion on network expansion in 2025 and plans to spend ₦1 trillion in 2026, adding that no operator can promise flawless service in Nigeria’s conditions and that community protection of infrastructure is essential, since third-party road workers frequently sever fibre cables and cut off thousands of subscribers at once.
