Ranking Global Tower Companies
Counting towers worldwide is tricky. Definitions of what constitutes a tower, who owns it and whether it’s shared, all factor into the tally. Inside Towers Intelligence conservatively estimates there are 4.0-4.5 million towers worldwide. The biggest tower companies operate in the world’s most populous countries. State-owned China Tower, the world’s largest tower company with 2.15 million towers at the end of 2025, operates within China. The next two largest tower companies both operate in India – Indus Towers, 51 percent owned by Bharti Airtel, with 259,622 towers and Brookfield (NYSE: BAM)-owned Altius with 257,000 towers.
Tower companies can be grouped into different categories depending on ownership and area of operation. Of particular interest are those tower companies considered to be independent and multinational, that is, either publicly held, investor owned or minority owned by mobile network operators, and which operate in multiple countries. American Tower (NYSE: AMT), based in Boston, MA, is the world’s largest independent towerco. At the end of December 2025, the company reported 148,824 towers in four regions – U.S.& Canada, Africa & APAC, Europe and Latin America.
Second-ranked Cellnex (MC: CLNX), headquartered in Barcelona, operates 111,752 towers in 12 European countries. The company has a backlog of 8,942 built-to-suit towers across eight countries to be completed by 2030.
Vantage Towers, with HQ in Dusseldorf, Germany, was spun out from Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD). Vantage operates 46,900 towers in eight European countries and has access to another 41,000 towers through joint ventures with Cornerstone in the U.K. and INWIT in Italy.
SBA Communications (NASDAQ: SBAC), based in Boca Raton, FL, owns and operates 46,328 towers with 17,398 in the U.S., and internationally with 24,211 towers in South and Central America and 3,719 in Africa.
GD Towers, located in Bonn, Germany, operates around 40,000 towers with 33,000 in Germany and 7,000 in Austria. Carved out of Deutsche Telekom in 2022, the towerco is majority owned by DigitalBridge Group (NYSE: DBRG) and Brookfield (NYSE: BIP), Inside Towers reported. Deutsche Telekom still retains 49 percent ownership.
London-based IHS Holding Limited (NYSE: IHS), operating as IHS Towers, reported 37,590 towers at the end of December across five countries in Africa and two South American countries. Nigeria is the company’s largest market with 15,873 towers. In February, IHS agreed to sell its 8,860 sites in IHS Brazil and IHS Colombia to Macquarie Asset Management and is considering selling its African operations to MTN Group, Inside Towers reported.
Phoenix Tower International, also based in Boca Raton, reports that it operates 32,840 sites, with 1,295 sites in the U.S., and 31,545 sites in several countries in Central and South America and Europe, and in Cyprus.
Helios Towers (OTCPK: HTWSF), also based in London, reported a total of 14,746 towers in nine growth markets across Africa and the Middle East. The total includes 6,597 towers in East & West Africa, 5,501 in Central & Southern Africa and 2,648 in Middle East & North Africa.
Several tower companies are noted for their size but are not considered either as independent or multinational. Edotco, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, operates over 47,000 towers in seven Southeast Asia countries but is majority owned by telecom group, Axiata. Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) reported it owned and operated as of year-end 2025, 39,804 towers, all in the U.S. Similarly, Vertical Bridge is the largest private towerco with over 18,000 towers, all in the U.S.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
