We all know what typically happens when we unknowingly exhaust our data bundle while browsing or downloading something. Without any warning, the data is automatically charged from your airtime till it’s exhausted too. It’s only after you get a connection error or that Sign in to Telkom notification that you realize what has just happened. Not only is your data balance reading 0 but so is your airtime.
Telkom Kenya has heard your cry in this regard and has finally introduced My Data Manager. This data control service may sound familiar and that’s because Safaricom has had it for years now and goes by the same name.
Likewise, the Telkom version does the same thing: it stops your airtime from being charged for data once your bundle has finished. Your data consumption is thus restricted to data bundles and as a result you won’t be able to use data without having an active data bundle.
Option 1: Activate My Data Manager using USSD
1. Dial *544# on your Telkom Kenya line.
2. Reply with 8 for My Data Manager.
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| Select My Data Manager |
3. Reply with 1 to Activate the service.
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| Activate the Service |
4. That’s it. You’ll get a message that Data Manager has been activated followed by a confirmation SMS of the same.
Option 2: Activate My Data Manager using My Telkom App
You can alternatively activate My Data Manager by using My Telkom app that’s available for users on Android. If you have the app already installed, goto the menu at the bottom and select Bundles.
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| My Telkom App Bundles Page |
In the Bundles page, tap on Internet Bundles to reveal its options. Next tap My Data Manager option and select the radio button. Once done, tap the Subscribe button to complete the request.
Troubleshooting
If you run out of your data bundle and have this service enabled, Telkom advises you switch off and turn on your phone after buying a new bundle. This is quite peculiar since on Safaricom this is usually not the case. Instead, their data manager is automatically deactivated the moment you buy a new bundle.
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| Service Activated |
It’s also counter-intuitive since restarting your phone will probably mean disrupting a browsing session or worse stopping an active download; and as it’s the case, not all downloads may be resumable and if they are, not all mobile browsers may support resuming broken downloads.
Still, I’d suggest following Telkom’s advice especially if you do happen to encounter any connectivity issues after purchasing or renewing a data bundle.
