Why you are encountering faster consumption of data - NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has opened up on the reasons why telecoms consumers are witnessing faster data consumption since the beginning of the lockdown.

Recall that Nigeria was placed on lockdown on March 30th in some states as a result of the effect of the deadly coronavirus which has risen to 8344 cases as of today.

According to the NCC, there has been a total of 76 complaints, 58 of which were said to be related to unsatisfactory data services.

The commission, however, added that 68 of the grievances lodged with the commission during that period had been resolved.

In a public notice by the Director of Public Affairs, Dr Henry Nkemadu, he said: "The nature of technology (2G, 3G or 4G ), the quality of the network, the speed of download, the type of websites you visit, the specifications of your handset, and so many other factors contribute to your data consumption."

The Commission stated: "Your data is used whenever your phone connects to the Internet. The following activities are the most common uses that reduce your data: Sending and receiving emails; downloading and uploading files (pictures, documents, videos, among others.). The larger the file, the more the data consumption browsing the internet; the more pictures, videos or graphics on the websites visited, the more data is used.

"Instant Messaging – like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, etc, streaming music/ videos on YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and other channels and games use a lot more data than most people imagine due to the intense graphics and algorithms that power them. So also are Social media applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, etc, video-chatting and conferencing applications like Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp Video, among others.”