Traditionally , the towers and cell sites that formed the infrastructural foundation of mobile networks were the purview of MNOs and MNOs alone . Over the past decade , however , the industry has started to shift as MNOs looked to become leaner and more agile - service and experience providers rather than utility companies . Now , in 2021 , the telecom tower market is dominated by a new ( ish ) breed of dedicated tower companies , hungrily buying up telecom tower portfolios throughout every market from Tanzania to rural Ohio . This month , we ’ re breaking down the top 10 tower companies dominating the global telecom infrastructure market .