MTN Nigeria has moved to clear the air over unusually high data usage figures reported to some of its subscribers, blaming the figures on a temporary system error.
The controversy started after several customers received SMS alerts showing data consumption far above what they expected.
The reports quickly spread across social media, with subscribers questioning how their data could have been exhausted at such a rate.
The issue drew wider attention on Thursday, August 13, after Bashir Ahmad, a former Special Assistant on Digital Communications to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, shared an MTN usage report showing 58.83GB of data consumption on August 11.
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His post triggered further reactions, as other MTN customers began sharing similar reports and raising concerns about possible excessive data deductions.
MTN, in a newsletter issued on Friday evening, said the figures seen by affected customers did not represent their actual data consumption.
According to the telecoms company, a temporary glitch caused some usage figures recorded in megabytes (MB) to be displayed as gigabytes (GB) in the SMS reports.
“Earlier this week, some subscribers noticed discrepancies in the data usage figures displayed in their SMS usage reports,” MTN said.
The company said the problem has now been fixed and that the records of affected customers were corrected to reflect their actual usage.
“All affected records were corrected immediately to accurately reflect subscribers’ actual data usage,” MTN said, while apologising for the confusion and concern caused by the error.
About the Author
Cecilia Attah is a tech analyst with a degree from Benue State University. She covers tech news and startups at TechRegard with a focus on how technology is transforming Africa and shaping the global landscape.
