MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola has dismissed calls for unlimited mobile data plans in Nigeria, explaining that no operator anywhere in the world can sustain quality service if every customer has unrestricted access to data at a low cost.

Toriola made the remarks at a press conference titled “Data on Trial” held in Lagos on Saturday, pushing back against growing consumer demand for cheaper, unlimited internet packages as data affordability remains a flashpoint between telecom operators and subscribers in Nigeria.

He argued that unlimited mobile data, as popularly understood, does not exist in any market globally except at premium price points that most consumers would find unaffordable, and that offering it cheaply in Nigeria would ultimately destroy the infrastructure needed to deliver any meaningful service at all.

What Karl Toriola is saying

Toriola said the economics of mobile network capacity make unlimited data offerings structurally impossible at the price points Nigerian consumers are demanding.

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  • “The issue of unlimited data on mobile network, it does not exist anywhere in the world, except you are paying $400 a month or whatever. There are high bundles and fair usage policies,” he said
  • “On mobile networks, it does not really exist. There is a limit, because you can never build enough capacity for everyone to be on an unlimited bundle, and you think you will provide quality service that will be decent,” he continued.

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Drawing a comparison with the aviation sector, Toriola argued that artificially suppressing the price of any high-capacity service destroys the industry providing it.

  • “If you decide to give everybody in Nigeria unlimited local air tickets for N200,000 in a month, do you think the airline industry will survive? It won’t. It doesn’t work that way.” he said
  • “We cannot give unlimited as much as we desire it. We won’t be able to build the network that people would be able to use in what way whatsoever. That is the reality,” he continued.

What you should know 

Earlier, on June 6, Nairametrics reported that MTN Nigeria opened its data billing and network operations to public scrutiny as part of efforts to address recurring consumer complaints about alleged data depletion and strengthen customer confidence.

The telecom operator said the initiative, known as “Data on Trial,” was designed to give Nigerians an opportunity to independently assess how data is consumed and billed on its network, while also enabling customers to raise concerns directly with the company’s technical teams.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, Tobe Okigbo, said the engagement was intended to establish whether the complaints were linked to actual technical issues, customer misconceptions, or gaps in consumer education.