FAQ

From OpenCellID wiki
Revision as of 01:45, 22 January 2014 by Msemm (Talk | contribs)

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On this page you can find frequently asked questions

I am an OpenStreetMap mapper and would like to map cell towers

OpenCelliD mainly needs MCC, MNC, LAC and CID information combined with a GPS position.
In most cases it is not possible to find out this data by going to a cell tower for various reasons:

  • the cell tower might be on a roof which is not accessible
  • there is no sign at the base station indicating such information
  • there are many antennas all together and it is not possible to find out which antenna has which id
  • etc.

In addition one of the basic rules of OSM is to map visible things. This is not the case here: MCC/MNC/LAC/CID are not visible in most cases.
Therefore only a very small number of cell towers is currently mapped in OSM with MCC/MNC/LAC/CID tags.

The most appropriate way to contribute to OpenCellID is to use one of the smartphone applications listed here and to collect measurements while mapping something else.
The Keypad-Mapper 3 for ex. has a built-in feature to record cell tower data while mapping house numbers / addresses.