“Turn off auto-update until you have access to Wi-Fi, ” MTN CEO advises on how to save data

MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola has offered Nigerians a direct piece of advice on managing their mobile data consumption: turn off auto-backup and auto-updates on your phone when connected to the mobile network, and only allow them when you have access to free Wi-Fi.

Toriola advised at a recent stakeholder engagement event focused on transparency around data delivery and consumption.

Speaking at the event, he noted that the company wants to move beyond simply asking customers to trust it and instead present facts, hear difficult questions, and listen to consumer perspectives directly.

“We do not build trust by automatically expecting you to accept our explanations without clear evidence of what we are saying,” Toriola said at the event. “Today’s event is an opportunity for all of you to examine the facts, to understand the technology behind what delivers data to you in real time, and to ask the most difficult questions.”

His practical tip was aimed squarely at a complaint many Nigerians regularly raise, that their data runs out faster than it should. Toriola acknowledged that background processes are a significant contributor to this.

“Switch off auto-backup and auto-updates over the mobile network for every single application, especially things like iCloud and auto-updates of all your apps,” he said. “That is the one piece of advice I have. It consumes an incredible amount of data in the background. You don’t realise it, we don’t instigate it.”

He urged Nigerians who are concerned about consumption to reserve those background processes exclusively for Wi-Fi connections.

Toriola also used the occasion to underscore how central mobile data has become to everyday life in Nigeria. “If the networks that support data were switched off for a day, we cannot make that bank transfer, we cannot call that loved one, our businesses, our education, our communications, our relationships,” he said.

A data conversation that Nigerians have been demanding

The event comes against a backdrop of persistent, widespread complaints from Nigerian mobile subscribers about data depletion.

Across social media platforms, Nigerian users regularly report that their balances drop faster than expected, often attributing the losses to what they describe as suspicious background consumption by network providers.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has received thousands of complaints about data-related issues over the years, and subscriber frustration has repeatedly prompted public discourse about whether telcos are being transparent about how data is measured, allocated, and consumed.

MTN, as Nigeria’s largest mobile network operator with over 80 million subscribers, sits at the centre of that conversation.

Toriola’s acknowledgement that background app activity, rather than deliberate network action, is a major culprit gives consumers something specific to act on.

Auto-backup services like iCloud and Google Photos, and automatic app updates, can consume hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes without a user actively doing anything. On a mobile connection, that consumption is silent and continuous.

For now, the advice is simple: go into your phone settings, find the mobile data options for each app, and disable background internet for anything that does not need to be running in the background on your mobile network.

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