At a meeting with stakeholders held in Abuja Tuesday, the Nigerian Communications Commission demonstrated that it’s avowed devotion to the Nigerian consumer is not a flash in the pan when it reeled out 10 tips to help consumers manage their data thereby cutting costs.
This follows the hues and cries of millions of Nigerians which caught the attention of the Commission about perceived outrageous depletion of data.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Engr. Aminu Maida, the issue was reported to reputable chartered accounting firms such as PWC and upon carrying out their billings audit they found that there is little or no problem with the data depletion rate.
The Commission’s Director in charge of Consumer Affairs, Mrs Freda Bruce Bennett listed the tips as follows:Abolish Auto play Instagram, Tik Tok, Reddit, Facebook; Block malwares which drain your data; Choose data usage prioritisation and avoid binge watching; Disable background data usage; Eradicate annoying Ads with 3rd party Ad blockers; Favour low data versions of apps, eg Facebook Lite, You Tube Go Opera Mini,Go to WiFi for iCloud Drive and backup, Android, IOS, and WhatsApp backup; Hide your location in settings; Implement passwords protection. Restrict hotspot usage and know who is using your data and Jettison automatic downloads of status updates on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp.
On background data usage, the Director explained that whether or not you use the date, data was being consumed
“All our phones give us the option to actually use data saving mode. What that automatically does is that the phone helps to conserve and consume less data in your settings in all the phones. That opportunity is there.
On unnecessary apps, she said, ” Go through your phone. Be very brutal.Whatever you don’t need, delete them. You can actually put some in Disable background but go through them and focus on what matters”
Then there is also the need to download and watch things online. From your Google maps to your favourite videos you want to watch on Netflix to your music, do not keep watching everything online; the more you do you are consuming data. It is better to pay for that service once by downloading it offline and having it continually.
Then on streaming there is need for you to stream affordably. If you watch your movie on Netflix is on Standard Definition it will consume 500megabytes for a 1 hour movie, but if you watch that same movie on High Definition it will consume about 1.5 gigabytes.
“So you will need to go into the settings of those apps and choose Standard Definition or Data saving mode.
She also reiterated a point earlier made by the EVC that the quality of the phone will affect the data usage such that 4g or 5g phones will consume higher than the lower quality models.
She opined that an adherence to some of this counsel could make a huge savings for the average consumer.