MTN Ghana Chief Executive Officer Stephen Blewett has again pushed back against persistent subscriber allegations that the network is siphoning customer data, telling journalists and stakeholders at the company’s Accra Media and Stakeholder Forum on Friday that the operator has no financial or strategic motivation to engage in such practices.
Addressing a question that he acknowledged has followed him across multiple markets and countries throughout his career, Blewett rejected the claims categorically. “There’s zero incentive for MTN to steal data from you,” he said. “Because it will just chase people away. It’s not something we do; it’s not part of our values.”
The comments come amid renewed subscriber complaints in Ghana over data bundles depleting faster than expected, with some users reporting unexplained reductions in their balances. Similar concerns have been raised in other African markets, including Nigeria, where regulatory bodies have faced pressure from subscribers to investigate data consumption practices by telecom operators.
Rather than attributing fast data depletion to operator manipulation, Blewett pointed to the way modern smartphones behave. He said background processes, including automatic application updates, continuous app syncing, and the growing default shift toward high-definition video streaming, routinely consume data without users being aware of it. He explained that stronger networks compound the effect, since better signal quality causes platforms such as video streaming services to automatically switch to higher resolutions, consuming significantly more data per session.
He urged subscribers to take a more active role in managing their digital consumption, recommending that users monitor which applications are running in the background and adjust video quality settings on their devices to reduce unintended data usage.
Blewett also reaffirmed that MTN operates internal revenue assurance systems and is subject to independent external auditing, both of which would detect billing irregularities if they existed. He framed customer trust as the company’s most important commercial asset, arguing that any deliberate data manipulation would undermine the very foundation of the business.
The forum comes at a period of significant investment activity for MTN in Ghana. The company has committed over US$300 million in capital expenditure for 2026 and is deploying 500 new network sites this year, a tenfold increase from the 50 built in 2025. As coverage and network quality improve across the country, Blewett’s message to subscribers is that faster and stronger networks will continue to accelerate the pace at which data is consumed, making user awareness of consumption habits increasingly important.
