THE lack of insight has been labelled as a contributing factor to bill shocks for customers whose time spent in the digital world is ruined by inexplicable or rapidly depleting data.
Users have been encouraged to make informed decisions on data usage and educate themselves on cost effective ways of using data to minimise bill shock and manage their data bundles.
According to MTN, access to popular social media platforms, streaming and software updates account for the bulk of the data consumption, which results in significant amounts of data consumed.
Users are unaware that on average they use about 4.6GB and 1.4GB of data over a four-day period when logged onto Instagram and Facebook on the 2G and 3G network.
Here are five simple tips that could help you save your data:
- Use free WiFi wherever possible – Update and download your apps in a WiFi zone. While some places may have WiFi passwords, others don’t and once you connect the first time it will connect automatically when you’re in range.
- Limit background data – if the setting on your phone is set to sync new messages as you receive them, or if your phone automatically downloads new app updates, this could be causing your data to be depleted.
- Stop videos from auto playing – with Facebook’s auto playing video feature, it automatically starts playing videos when you’re browsing through them. You can disable this feature in the settings menu to prevent it from quickly eating up your mobile data.
- Familiarise yourself with the settings on your device so you can close the apps that are not being used.
- If you enjoy keeping in touch with friends and family via social media, install Facebook Lite to save on data charges.
