Cellular connectivity has become an essential part of modern life and the infrastructure supporting it continues to grow in importance. Cell towers form the backbone of wireless networks, enabling mobile communication for billions of people globally. The companies that own and operate these towers play a vital role in the wireless ecosystem.
In this article, we will look at the 10 largest cell tower companies in the world, providing an overview of their scale, geographic reach, customers, and more. Understanding these major industry players offers insights into the trends shaping tomorrow‘s networks.
The Importance of Cell Towers
Cell towers, also known as cell sites, are the physical locations where antennae and other radio communications equipment are placed to create a cell in a cellular network. They provide the infrastructure needed for mobile connectivity including for voice calls, texting, and internet access.
The towers themselves are typically steel lattices ranging from 50 to 200 feet tall, designed to support antennae, radio transceivers, and other gear. Equipment is often shared between multiple wireless carriers to reduce costs. The towers also require land to site them on, backup power sources, fiber optic connectivity, and maintenance over their decades-long functional lifespans.
With mobile data usage growing exponentially year-over-year, wireless carriers continue building out denser networks, driving demand for towers and alternative cell site solutions. The emergence of 5G is accelerating network investment even further.
Business Models
There are two primary business models in the cell tower industry:
1. Own and lease space: Tower companies acquire and construct sites then lease antenna and equipment space to wireless carriers and other tenants. Long-term leases provide reliable revenue.
2. Build-to-suit: Here the tower company partners with a wireless carrier to finance and build a new tower site according to their exact specifications, then takes over ownership and management.
For many carriers, there are advantages to outsourcing infrastructure management to independent tower companies rather than owning their vertical real estate. Let‘s look now at the top global firms in this space.
The Top 10 Largest Cell Tower Companies
(Ranked by number of cell site towers and antennae-hosting structures worldwide)
1. American Tower Corporation
- 223,000+ sites globally
- HQ: Boston, MA
- Countries: U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Germany
- Major customers: T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon
- Recently acquired telecom infrastructure provider CoreSite for $10.1 billion
American Tower sits far above the competition as the world‘s largest cell tower operator by tower count spanning six countries across the Americas and Europe.
2. Crown Castle
- 80,000+ towers and small cell sites
- HQ: Houston, TX
- Geography: U.S. only
- Customers: Verizon, AT&T
- Owns 40,000 towers and operates around 50,000 small cell sites installed on city infrastructure
Major U.S. operator Crown Castle only operates domestically but comes in second globally thanks to its vast small cell network going beyond traditional towers.
3. SBA Communications
- 36,890 towers and antenna sites
- HQ: Boca Raton, FL
- Countries: U.S., Canada, Central America, South America
- Customers include all major North American carriers
SBA is the second largest American cell tower REIT by tower count with infrastructure assets throughout the Americas.
4. Cellnex Telecom
- 130,000+ sites
- HQ: Barcelona, Spain
- Countries with operations: Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, U.K., Ireland, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal
- Recently acquired Hong Kong telecom tower company CK Hutchison for €10 billion
Spanish group Cellnex is Europe‘s largest cell tower operator, also serving customers globally across 12 countries following rapid expansion.
5. China Tower Corporation
- 2.047 million tower sites
- HQ: Beijing, China
- Geography: China
- State-owned firm with China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom as anchor tenants
China Tower possesses over two million tower and antenna sites – more than double the rest of this list combined. However, the company operates only in China.
6. Telxius Telecom
- 31,000+ towers and indoor DAS networks
- HQ: Barcelona, Spain
- Countries: Spain, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina
- Customers: Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange
Spanish carrier Telefónica‘s infrastructure company Telxius comes next, providing over 31,000 cellular sites across Europe and Latin America.
7. edotco Group
- 42,000+ towers
- HQ: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Countries: Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines
- Formed by Axiata Group to manage tower assets and infrastructure
Malaysia-based edotco has a commanding presence across South and Southeast Asia with over 40,000 towers featuring shared equipment from multiple carriers.
8. Phoenix Towers International
- 23,000+ towers, indoor/outdoor small cells, DAS networks
- HQ: Boca Raton, FL
- Countries: U.S., Latin America, Caribbean
- Customers include Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, Claro, Telefonica
Latin America‘s largest cell tower company offers tower space, build to suit towers, small cells, and DAS solutions.
9. ATC Europe
- 24,000+ tower, rooftops and remote radio heads
- HQ: Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Countries: Germany, France
- Customers include Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica Deutschland
ATC Europe controls over 24,000 sites in Germany and France combined providing infrastructure management for some of Europe‘s largest carriers.
10. International Data Group (IDG)
- 23,000+ telecom towers
- HQ: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Geography: Vietnam
- Customers include Viettel Mobile and Mobifone
Rounding out the top 10 largest cell tower firms globally is Vietnam‘s IDG providing nearly 100% nationwide coverage solely to domestic operators thus far.
Industry Trends and Growth Drivers
- Investments into upgrading networks for 4G/5G connectivity are fueling tower and small cell deployment, benefiting tower cos.
- U.S. industry on track to install up to 100K small cells in 2022 (source: Steel In The Air)
- Carriers in some markets increasingly prefer colocation deals over build-to-suit to reduce costs
- Tower companies growing via M&A – American Tower acquired 80% of Telxius towers in 2021 for $9.4B
- Major tower investment growth across SE Asia, Africa, and Latin America
- Mobile/network technology evolutions like Open RAN likely support demand for cell solutions
While financial performance varies between pure-play tower companies and carriers‘ infrastructure holdings, the overall industry appears positioned for further expansion given the broad demand drivers.
Final Thoughts
Owning and maintaining vast networks of infrastructure for the wireless industry has proven a lucrative global business as mobile connectivity becomes more vital to societies and economies worldwide. We can expect many of the same familiar players discussed here to remain leaders in keeping the world connected on the move while new competitive threats and opportunities emerge.
