MTN's $6.2bn IHS bid gives one company leverage over every network you use.

MTN Group wants to fully acquire IHS Towers in a $6.2 billion all-cash deal. MTN already owns 24.7% of IHS. It wants the whole thing.

Here's why this is your problem. IHS manages over 13,000 telecommunications towers in Nigeria, the physical infrastructure carrying every call, every mobile banking transaction, every data session on every network including Airtel and 9mobile. IHS is supposed to be neutral infrastructure. A shared backbone that serves everyone equally. If MTN owns it, Airtel and 9mobile rent antenna space from their biggest competitor.

MTN already holds about 52% of Nigeria's mobile market. Control of 47% of national tower infrastructure on top of that gives one company leverage over every phone network you might use.

MTN says IHS will operate independently and serve all clients on arm's-length terms. Industry analysts point out that neutrality in writing and neutrality in practice are different things, especially when the owner is simultaneously the largest tenant and the biggest market competitor.

Minister Bosun Tijani says the government will conduct a "thorough assessment." The precedents from South Africa and India show it's possible to approve this kind of deal with enforceable open-access conditions. It requires aggressive oversight. Nigeria's track record of enforcing structural conditions in concentrated markets is not a source of comfort. Ask anyone who's paid an electricity bill.

Globacom owns its own towers. Glo customers probably won't feel this directly. But if you're on Airtel, 9mobile, or any of the smaller networks, the outcome of this regulatory review is going to show up in your bill eventually.