MTN Nigeria has assured subscribers that there are no plans to introduce another telecommunications tariff increase in the immediate future, while clarifying recent comments by its Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, on unlimited mobile data.
Speaking during an interview on TVC’s Beyond the Headlines, Toriola said his remarks at MTN’s Data on Trial public engagement were misunderstood after excerpts circulated online without the full context.
According to him, his comments were intended to explain the technical limitations of mobile networks rather than suggest that consumers could never enjoy unlimited data plans.
“People took snippets of the conversation, and the entirety of the conversation is available on YouTube. There’s nothing to be hidden there, and they took it slightly out of context,” he said.
Toriola explained that mobile networks operate on a limited spectrum, making truly unrestricted data usage impossible without affecting service quality for other subscribers.
“Mobile wireless technology to offer data is limited by one factor—spectrum—and spectrum is a finite resource. You cannot put an excessive load of data traffic onto a mobile network without having a degradation of the quality of service for other people,” he said.
He noted that while several telecom operators advertise unlimited data plans, such offerings are typically governed by fair usage policies that reduce internet speeds once subscribers exceed certain usage thresholds.
According to the MTN boss, the company is working towards introducing similar products but said they would also be subject to fair usage limits to ensure stable network performance for all users.
Addressing concerns over rapid data depletion, Toriola dismissed claims that telecom operators deliberately consume customers’ data. Instead, he attributed much of the usage to background activities on smartphones, including automatic cloud backups through applications such as WhatsApp, Google Cloud and iCloud.
“A significant amount of data that’s consumed on your handsets is done without your realisation,” he said.
He advised subscribers to review their device settings and configure cloud backups to occur only over Wi-Fi or at less frequent intervals to reduce unnecessary data consumption.
To illustrate his point, Toriola disclosed that an audit of the phone of one of MTN’s chief officers, who had complained about excessive data usage, revealed that WhatsApp had been automatically backing up approximately 120 gigabytes of data.
On telecom pricing, the MTN CEO assured subscribers that another tariff adjustment is not expected anytime soon.
“The increment is not imminent. But over time, depending on economic conditions, there might be possible tariff increases,” he said.
Toriola explained that the tariff review implemented in 2025 was necessary to sustain the telecommunications industry after more than a decade without a price adjustment despite rising operational costs.
He also revealed that MTN invested ₦390 billion in capital expenditure during the first quarter of the year, exceeding its ₦359 billion profit after tax over the same period.
According to him, persistent fibre cuts, vandalism, unreliable electricity supply and restricted access to telecom infrastructure remain major challenges affecting service delivery across the country.
“We have more fibre cuts in a day than the whole Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has in a year,” he said.