If you’ve noticed your internet dragging or your calls dropping lately, the reason might be more about steel and concrete than your actual phone. IHS Towers, one of the biggest companies that builds and manages the towers your phone connects to, is slowing down its building projects.
What’s Happening?
IHS Towers recently reported that they are spending less money on new projects. In the first three months of 2026, their spending on new infrastructure dropped by about 5.3% compared to last year.
The company is “phasing” its work. This is a fancy way of saying they are delaying projects that aren’t urgent to save money.
Why is this happening?
Building towers is getting very expensive. Several big factors are hitting the company’s wallet:
• Rising Costs: The price of diesel (used to power towers) and maintenance has gone up.
• Inflation: Everything from steel to shipping costs more now.
• Big Business Changes: IHS is currently selling parts of its business in Latin America and is in talks to be bought by MTN Group for about $2.2 billion.
How This Affects You (The Subscriber)
When a tower company slows down, the mobile networks that use them (like MTN and Airtel) can’t expand as quickly.
•5G Rollout:You might have a 5G phone but find yourself stuck on 4G because new 5G equipment isn’t being installed.
•Weak Signals in Crowded Areas: As more people use the internet, towers get “full.” Without new towers to share the load, your data speeds drop.
•Rural Lag:If you live in a village or a new estate, you might have to wait much longer to get a strong signal.
The Bottom Line
Demand for data is exploding. In Nigeria alone, there are now over 153 million active internet users. We are all watching more videos and using more apps than ever before.
While IHS Towers is still doing some work especially in Nigeria where they actually increased some specific spending the overall slowdown means the “super-fast” future we were promised might take a little longer to arrive.
For now, don’t be surprised if your signal bars don’t look as full as they used to in busy areas. The “backbone” of the internet is just taking a bit of a breather.
