In 2021, the executive vice chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta revealed that internet subscribers in Nigeria consume over 80,000 terabytes (80 million gigabytes) of data per month.
This monthly data consumption by Nigerians only topped by South Africa, which expends up to 269,000tb every month, with Kenya and Ghana completing the four largest consumers, using 22,400tb and 8,100tb of monthly internet data respectively, in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Though, telecom operators like MTN sells one gigabyte (gb) of data for N300, not all Nigerians can afford that as 40 per cent of Nigerians earn below N11,500 per month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This is the main reason why most Nigerians have to work long hours to afford the cheapest broadband (3G/4G) plan. The average Nigerian works 40 hours per week, totalling about 160 hours per month.
Even when they struggled to purchase one gb for one month for instance, it is sad to note that the data plan don’t last up to 10 days.
How Data usage is calculated
According to report by Techpoint, the rate of data depletion is heavily dependent on the kind of Internet activity one engages in.
Based on information from network operators, the NCC gives the following data usage estimates on what an hour’s usage will cost during any of these activities.
For instance, one hour spent on social media platforms, cost 200mb; one hour of browsing, cost 60mb; one hour of instant messaging with video calls, cost 140mb; one hour of streaming music, cost 60mb; one hour of streaming videos, cost 350mb (non-HD) and 1GB (HD); one email sent or received with attachments will cost at least 500kb, depending on the size of the attachment and one minute of connected gameplay, cost 60mb.
Tips to save money
One may think that by turning off data for some hours would help reduce data consumption. But this is not true, in that even when you disable the internet for a long time, updates and notifications will kick in immediately you turn on the data.
How can one reduce consumption of data? A report by MakeUseOf, revealed ways one can do that.
The first step is to manually cap your mobile data, by opening your settings; next find network & Internet > Data usage.Tap Data warning & limit and Set data warning to set a flag (say, 1GB below your limit).You can also Set data limit to specify your carrier’s limit. In Data usage, enable Data saver to use less data overall.
Another way to reduce data consumption is to use data-compressing Applications.Various apps use compression technology to reduce your data usage. You might already use some of them, without realizing the impact. One of such applications is Google Chrome which has a built-in data-saving tool. Enable it by tapping Settings > Data Saver > Use Data Saver.
Stop Apps From Automatically Syncing, to save data. While you use your phone, a lot of activity happens in the background. For example, Google Play and Apple’s App Store check for updates and your email app looks for new messages.
Meanwhile, social media apps push updates to your phone; the list goes on. All this data adds to your mobile internet usage. We are not even talking about apps updating, just the data they sync. Whatever apps you use with a regular requirement for data are costing you money.
Disable android App syncing, is another way to save data. You can disable some apps that sync at Settings > Apps & notifications. Here you will find apps that sync various data, such as your contacts. Tap each one and check the data usage, if it is too much, tap Data usage, then disable Background data.
iPhone users can disable App syncing as well. To do that you need to do is to tap each service that you don’t need to sync.
Ensure Your Cloud Apps Use Wi-Fi Syncing Only. On a similar note, consider your cloud storage. It’s always a good idea to have a cloud sync set up with your phone. Perhaps you need to upload photos automatically, or access documents in Google Drive. Whatever the case, you should ensure that these services don’t use your mobile data. Instead, configure them to use Wi-Fi only.
Don’t Stream HD Video: Streaming high definition (HD) video is a chief consumer of mobile data. Just one hour of streaming HD (say, half a movie) can eat through 2GB of data. Some basic plans only offer 5GB for an entire month of usage. That is before we even start to talk about 2K and 4K video streaming. Mobile internet is unsuitable for anything above HD (1080p) but with the arrival of 5G, this looks set to change.
Switch Down Your Mobile Internet Settings to 3G: Most of today’s high-end mobile devices support 4G and 5G data. This allows for speeds that exceed many home internet connections. But faster speeds mean quicker use of your mobile data allowance. Another way to reduce mobile data usage is by downgrading to 3G.
Get Offline and Save Mobile Data: You can survive the day without checking the showbiz news or sharing a hot take on Twitter. So, if there’s no Wi-Fi, and mobile internet is expensive, just stay offline.
