Phone tower database to be made public

Phone tower database to be made public

The UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom has announced that it has updated the information on its Sitefinder website - which shows the location and characteristics of mobile phone base stations that use the GSM, TETRA and UMTS technologies.

On 4 September 2007, following a Freedom of Information request, the Information Tribunal upheld a decision by the Information Commissioner that Ofcom must supply the full Sitefinder dataset to parties who request it, including the names of operators, locations and power levels of all mobile base stations. Ofcom has decided to appeal this decision and a further hearing in the High Court is anticipated.

UK regulator updates phone tower location maps (Cellular-news, 3 March 2008)