MTN Says Tariff Increase Not Expected Soon

MTN Nigeria says another telecom tariff increase is not expected soon and has clarified recent comments about unlimited mobile data.

Speaking during an interview on TVC’s Beyond the Headlines, MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said his earlier remarks at the company’s Data on Trial public engagement had been misunderstood. He explained that online clips did not capture the full discussion and were shared without the proper context.

“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.

Karl Toriola explained that mobile networks rely on a limited amount of spectrum, making truly unrestricted data usage impossible without affecting service quality for other users. He said this technical limitation, rather than company policy, was the focus of his earlier comments.

“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 added that many providers offering unlimited mobile data apply fair usage policies that reduce internet speeds once customers exceed set usage limits. MTN Nigeria plans to introduce similar products, but they will also include fair usage conditions to maintain network performance.

Addressing concerns about fast data usage, Karl Toriola said telecom operators do not deliberately consume customers’ data. Instead, he pointed to background activities such as automatic backups through WhatsApp, Google Cloud, and iCloud as major contributors.

“A significant amount of data that’s consumed on your handsets is done without your realisation,” he said.

He advised subscribers to check their device settings and schedule cloud backups to run only over Wi-Fi or less frequently. As an example, he revealed that an internal review of a senior MTN executive’s phone found WhatsApp automatically backing up around 120 gigabytes of data.

On telecom tariff pricing, Karl Toriola said another increase is not imminent, although future changes would depend on economic conditions and the cost of maintaining network operations.

“The increment is not imminent. But over time, depending on economic conditions, there might be possible tariff increases,” he said.

He also said the 2025 tariff adjustment was necessary to keep the telecommunications industry sustainable after more than ten years without a price review despite rising operating costs. According to MTN Nigeria, the company invested ₦390 billion in capital expenditure during the first quarter, exceeding its ₦359 billion profit after tax. Karl Toriola also identified fibre cuts, vandalism, unreliable electricity supply, and limited access to telecom infrastructure as key challenges affecting service quality.

“We have more fibre cuts in a day than the whole Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has in a year,” he said.

Do you think fair usage policies are a reasonable way to balance unlimited mobile data with network performance?