Finding location using MCC, MNC, LAC, and Cell ID

Question

I know what the values are for MCC, MNC, LAC, & Cell ID. I want to in C write a program to calculate the position in the form of latitude and longitude values in Linux.

FYI:

• MCC - Mobile Country Code
• MNC - Mobile Network Code
• LAC - Location Area Code; a 16 bit number thereby allowing 65536 location areas within one GSM PLMN
• more info is available here on Wikipedia, Location Area Identity

Question:

1. How can I convert MCC,MNC,LAC,Cell ID into latitude and longitude values in linux?
2. Why does Cell ID varies every time,when trying to read?

Answer 1

To answer your questions:

1. You can access public databases from terminal or a browser to convert cell ID to lat/lon. Databases include:

   • Unwired Labs API
   • OpenCellID

2. Cell ID is the ID of the cell phone tower your phone/device is connected to. The moment you move a bit, or the signal of another tower nearby is better than the current one, your phone will switch over to that tower, and your Cell ID now reflects the ID of that tower.