Telecom firms: Turn off internet unless in use to save data

Telecom firms have advised internet users to beware of functions that run in the background and deplete their data even when they are not actively using the internet.

Leaving your data icon active all the time even in times when you are not using the internet is one of the main reasons why your data depletes faster than expected according to telecom companies. 

The telecom firms say once a mobile data user turns on their data icon, all applications start running in the background and the situation is worsened if they allow auto-downloads and auto-plays on some of their social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram.

“Even when you are sleeping, your data will keep running as long as you turned on the icon before sleeping and that is why you will wake up and find WhatsApp messages and other updates,” MTN Uganda’s Chief Marketing Officer Sen Somdev, said on Monday.

He made the remarks during the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC)’s Consumer Townhall Meeting on Internet Data-Consumer concerns held in Kampala.

“Every window you open, maybe to search for something and you don’t close it will consume your data. For example, we got a complaint only to investigate and find out that the client had opened 74 windows in their phones that consumed the data,” Mr Somdev added.

The situation escalates when you open more than one tab and forget to close it after searching for what you wanted because all opened tabs will continue consuming data from the background.

Another thing that consumes a lot of data is watching high quality videos because for example watching a high definition video for one hour will consume 750MBs on MTN compared to 100MBs that will be consumed if one watched the same video, but of low quality, in the same time frame.

Using the fastest networks like 4G and 5G and sharing your internet bundles with another phone will also lead to speedy data consumption.

“We advise you to use high speed network if you need to like why would you use 5G when opening only WhatsApp, use 3G to save data,” Mr Somdev said.

Like it has been on X-platform (formerly Twitter), data depletion was among the major issues consumers reported to UCC.

Airtel Uganda and MTN Uganda were placed in the spotlight after several individuals criticsed them on X-platform over what the latter described as data fraud.

Airtel Uganda in particular even faced an intended legal battle with popular city artiste Moses Ssali alias Bebe Cool the head of Gagamel International Entertainment Crew.

Mr Ssali who had allegedly been defrauded 17 Gigabytes on January 16, threatened to sue Airtel, after its failure to give him back his internet bundles, which he said were taken fraudulently.

In the letter of intention to sue, which was delivered to Airtel on February 14, the Kasepiki hit-maker demanded for Shs200m in damages citing the loss he incurred when he missed an “important zoom meeting” due to this unfair depletion.

Bebe Cool in the letter said he purchased data amounting to 22 Gigabytes worth Shs50,000 on his mobile handset on January 16 at 21:56 hours.

He added that he briefly opened his TikTok social media platform at around 10pm, which consumed not more than 300 megabytes and then charged his phone in preparation for an important Zoom meeting.

“To my surprise, at 12:34 am, without any further usage, I received an alert that only 5,649MBs remained, with over 17GBs depleted. This unethical data depletion antagonised my important Zoom business meeting, which was scheduled that same night,” the artiste said in the letter.

The Director of Customer Experience at Airtel Uganda, Ms Joweria Nabakka, said such scenarios are always common but linked them to apps running in the phone’s background.

Without mentioning Bebe Cool, Ms Nabakka responded to this case and said the 90 percent depletion was due to google cloud backups and TikTok.

She added that they got another case where a client who had two internet dependents (people he had placed on Tugabane) purchased 8GB on Friday, and the data was depleted by Sunday .

The client claimed he or she had not used the data.

“The first dependent had used 6.7GB and another one used 1.2GB. As a client you must manage your data by limiting sharing it with other people,” she said.

In further defence, telecoms said data bundles run different from voice calls where the subscribed minutes or airtime is deducted from the user’s cellphone when they are actively making the direct call.

“Airtel Uganda, MTN Uganda or any other telecom company gives you data bundles which are like toll free gate passes which will allow you use data or keep it for the period you purchased. One of the major factors contributing to rapid data depletion is the misconception that data is only consumed when actively in use. Additionally, the failure to close background apps results in continued data usage,” Mr Somdev said.

Telecoms explained that data depletion can be solved by the users as long as they do the basics.

Mr Somdev noted that some clients set their phones applications like WhatsApp and Instagram platforms on auto-download and play which allow images and videos to autoplay before selecting them.

The UCC executive director, Mr Thembo Nyombi, said the regulator would continue to provide an environment for sustainable business as they uphold consumer rights.

“We are aware that consumers can be best served when the operators keep on innovating and we therefore walk a knife edge of ensuring consumer protection and empowerment while espousing a regulatory environment that ensures sustainable business on part of the regulators,”

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