It is not sound data. It is words without sound. There is no tone, no pitch, no volume. It is just words. Thoughts. Concepts. Ideas.
Hearing has so many drawbacks. It is limited in range. It is affected by environmental noise. It is linear and if you miss a word you need to have it repeated somehow, which may not always be possible. Thoughts have none of these limitations.
I've never been able to find a satisfactory answer on how the cochlear implant behaves like that. I somewhat suspect nobody with hearing who developed it actually knows.
Hearing has so many drawbacks. It is limited in range. It is affected by environmental noise. It is linear and if you miss a word you need to have it repeated somehow, which may not always be possible. Thoughts have none of these limitations.