NCC backs telcos, says no evidence of data depletion

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said its audit of all the mobile networks in Nigeria has shown telecom operators aren’t guilty of data depletion, contrary to claims and complaints by subscribers across the country.

Subscribers in the last year have decried the rate at which their mobile data gets quickly depleted as well as poor connectivity, accusing the telecommunication companies of secretly increasing the cost of data without prior public notice.

Yesterday, the operators called on the federal government to allow them to increase tariffs in the sector, saying failure to heed the demand would spell doom for the economy.

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Daily Trust reports that high operating costs due to Nigeria’s struggling economy might have forced the country’s telecom operators to reduce the value of data they sell to subscribers.

It was gathered that a N2,000 data bundle by an average internet user now gets depleted within three to five days.

This could last between three weeks and four weeks before the economy went into the struggling mode.

Complaints by data users of data depletion were common on various platforms on social media and even offline last year.

But the Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Dr Aminu Maida said, while reviewing the activities of the telecom regulator in 2024, that there was no evidence of major data depletion.

He, however, noted that the audit, which was concluded in Q3 2024, showed that there were minor issues on the networks, which the regulator is currently working to address.

“We had a hypothesis that it isn’t true that there is a data depletion issue in the industry. It could be perception.

“So the first thing we did was that we immediately conducted a billing audit on the systems of the major MNOs, using reputable auditors. That exercise was completed in Q3 of the year and surprisingly, we didn’t find any major issues,” Maida said.

Speaking on NIN-SIM linkage, the NCC boss said the conclusion of the exercise was a major milestone for the telecom regulator in the year.

He said the exercise provided a lot of opportunities for the digital economy and the national security of the nation.

“You would agree with me that almost every transaction we perform today, in one way or the other, links back to your mobile number, whether it is your e-commerce or whether it is your registration for JAMB, or just generally any service that wants to reach you for customer support.

“So having the ability to be able to clearly identify who knows what would instill a lot of confidence and integrity in the system, which would lay the right foundations for the digital economy,” he said.