Amid persistent allegations across Africa that telecom operators are siphoning customers’ data, MTN Ghana’s Chief Executive Officer Stephen Blewett has emphatically denied these claims, insisting there is no incentive for the company to engage in such practices.
Speaking at MTN House in Accra, Blewett addressed widespread customer concerns about unexplained data depletion, a complaint that has followed him throughout his career in multiple telecommunications markets.
“I’ve heard ‘You’re stealing my data’ in every country I’ve worked—not just at MTN,” Blewett stated. “I swear to God as my witness: we have no reason to steal your data.”
The CEO’s comments, reported by Ghanaian news portal MyJoyOnline on Wednesday, come as similar allegations have intensified in Nigeria, where subscribers are increasingly vocal about what they perceive as unfair data consumption rates from MTN Nigeria—the country’s largest telecom operator with over 80 million users—and other service providers.
Frustrated Nigerian customers have inundated regulatory bodies, including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), with complaints demanding investigations into the mysterious disappearance of their purchased data bundles.
Blewett firmly rejected the notion that telecom companies would deliberately manipulate data allocations, explaining that such practices would actually undermine their business model and personal incentives.
“If I steal data, I can’t report it—I’d lose my bonus,” he explained, noting that executive compensation is tied to officially declared revenue, which would make data theft counterproductive from a business perspective.
Rather than attributing rapid data consumption to corporate malfeasance, Blewett pointed to technological shifts as the primary factor behind customers’ experiences. The transition from older network technologies to newer ones—particularly the ongoing migration from 3G and 4G to 5G networks—naturally leads to higher data usage patterns.
Other telecommunications operators who have addressed the issue share similar explanations, suggesting that increased video streaming and more data-intensive applications are responsible for customers perceiving faster depletion of their data bundles.
Industry experts note that modern smartphones and applications are designed to take advantage of faster networks, often automatically adjusting to higher quality settings when better connections are available. For example, streaming services may automatically increase video resolution when detecting a 5G connection, consuming significantly more data than users might expect based on their previous experiences with 3G or 4G networks.
Additionally, many popular applications perform background updates and data synchronization that consumers may not be fully aware of, contributing to what appears to be unexplained data consumption.
Nevertheless, the persistent nature of these complaints across multiple African markets suggests telecommunications companies face a significant challenge in gaining consumer trust regarding data billing practices.
Consumer advocacy groups have called for greater transparency in how telecom operators measure and bill data usage, with some suggesting independent audits of billing systems to verify the accuracy of charges.
The issue highlights broader questions about digital literacy as increasingly sophisticated technologies enter markets where many consumers may not fully understand how their devices and applications consume data. Educational campaigns about managing data usage and optimizing device settings could help address some concerns.
For MTN, which operates in numerous African countries including Ghana and Nigeria, addressing these persistent allegations is crucial for maintaining customer trust in highly competitive markets where consumers can easily switch providers if they feel their concerns aren’t being addressed.
Regulatory bodies across the continent continue to monitor the situation, with some considering implementing more stringent requirements for telecommunications companies to provide detailed breakdowns of data usage to customers.
In the meantime, telecommunications industry associations recommend that customers take proactive steps to monitor their own data usage through built-in device tools and carrier-provided applications, which can help identify which applications are consuming the most data and potentially reveal unexpected usage patterns.
As 5G networks continue to expand across Africa, bringing faster speeds but also potentially higher data consumption, telecom operators like MTN will need to find more effective ways to communicate with customers about evolving usage patterns to address what has become a persistent source of consumer dissatisfaction.
Blewett’s frank denial of data theft allegations represents an attempt to directly confront these concerns, but the challenge of convincing skeptical consumers may require more comprehensive approaches to transparency and customer education in the rapidly evolving telecommunications landscape.
