4 ms·
>> Carriers require knowledge of where you are to give you service - it is a physical limitation of cell technology. Quick nitpick. Carriers don't need to know
by ian0 8y ago
>> Carriers require knowledge of where you are to give you service - it is a physical limitation of cell technology.
Quick nitpick. Carriers don't need to know where you are. They just need to know which cells handsets are moving in and out of. To find out where you actually are takes a bit of work. Unfortunately they are more willing to put in the work since personal data has become more valuable.
- ryandrake 8y agoThey don’t need to know your precise location, but, for $ome rea$on, they reportedly ¢olle¢t it anyway and $hare it with third partie$: [1] 1: https://www.zdnet.com/article/us-cell-carriers-selling-access-to-real-time-location-data/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/us-cell-carriers-selling-acces...
- SamReidHughes 8y agoIt's useful to track location to figure out which locations have spotty cellular coverage.
- ian0 8y agoUseful maybe but expensive (at least in the older networks). Handset reported cell-tower signal strength information (what you need to triangulate) was only accessible to non-core parts of the network to reduce data load on regional links. Typically you can find out which areas have spotty coverage by looking at the dropped call and load stats of base stations (which use directional antennas), looking at osm maps of roads and developments, collecting complaints, as well as occasionally calling out and taking field measurements.