Sources

Data sources behind the tower catalog

No single public dataset answers every tower question. Each source below is used for what it is actually good at.

FCC Antenna Structure Registration

ASR is the source of truth for registered structures: registration IDs, lat/lon, height, lighting, owner, and status.

It misses many shorter or rooftop deployments, which is why the site cannot rely on it alone.

  • Exact structure record
  • Strong fit for tower detail pages
  • Not enough for carrier or technology labels

OpenCelliD

OpenCelliD contributes the tenant side: carrier, radio technology, approximate position, and range. It is noisy, but it answers the things ASR does not.

Because this layer is crowdsourced, it carries explicit attribution and clear quality labels wherever it is used.

  • Carrier identity from MCC and MNC
  • 5G NR versus LTE labeling
  • Approximate signal coverage radius
  • Daily-refreshable input

FCC ULS and other context

ULS is not the core site-location dataset, but it can help reinforce market-level carrier presence and band context for explainers.

It is best used as supporting evidence, not as the primary site inventory.

  • Useful for market context
  • Not granular enough for tower detail pages
  • Better as explanatory support than canonical location data

Useful pages in this build

Browse routes that complement this methodology or source page.