Are you curious about Why MTN Increased Data Prices? Read this article to find out why MTN management has approved almost a uniform 20% increase in data prices in 2023.
On 26 September 2023, data prices across all MTN portfolios in Nigeria have gone up by at least 20%. This hike in data prices emerged amidst a harsh economic situation, which has resulted in an outcry about the increments. Nigerians have taken to social media to lament about the unexpected increase in data prices, with many saying it is an insensitive decision by the telecoms company.
MTN is known to offer one of the most competitive and reliable data subscription bundles for customers in Nigeria, and the rest of West Africa including South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya. But customers are crying out loud against the recent data increase.
MTN daily 2.5GB which was priced at N500 has been hiked to N600. A similar hike in price can be found across several of the daily, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, and annual data bundles.
Telecoms giant, MTN, had earlier disclosed in May 2023 that there were plans underway to consider inevitable price increases across its portfolios for the third and fourth quarters of 2023. This was filed in one of its quarterly reports highlighting portfolios and priorities with consideration of the state of the trading environment.
Why MTN Increased Data Prices in 2023?
In a first-quarter report filed at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in May, the management disclosed that it anticipated the trading environment to remain challenging for the rest of 2023, necessitating proactive measures to address near-term risks associated with the challenges of the economy in the country.
Elevated inflation has been cited as the reason for this increase in data prices across the MTN data portfolio. The management maintained that this increase in data prices is necessary to ensure sufficient cash flow to allow the company to continue to provide excellent services and to fund future venture capital projects which are necessary for building a globally competitive network service.
The challenges stated and ones envisaged by the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ralph Mupita have obviously been responsible for necessary measures to counter the harsh effects of inflation within the Nigerian economy.
Public Reaction
The public reaction trailing the recent increase can be described as an outrage. Netizens have taken to social media to call out the network service provider company for outrageous extortions. Several users on Twitter (now X), Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are calling out the telecom company for being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
Broadband services, also known as data services, have become a regular topic of discussion across social media platforms with much of the discussion around how network provider companies manipulate services to extort users. As such, one can imagine that the management of MTN anticipated the kind of agitated public reactions that ensued following an increase in data prices in September 2023.
The question customers are asking is why exactly there is a 20% increase in the data prices. There are also important questions regarding possible future hikes in data prices despite how elevated the cost of broadband services already is in the country.