On this page you can find frequently asked questions.
I am an OpenStreetMap mapper and would like to map cell towers
OpenCelliD mainly collects 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 cell-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.
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