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Cell ID lookup
Find a cell tower from its MCC, MNC, LAC/TAC and cell ID. See where it is on the map, how far it reaches, and which network runs it, for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G cells worldwide.
- Cells
- 5.5M
- Networks
- 717
- Countries
- 197
- Radios
- GSM 2GCDMA 2GUMTS 3GLTE 4GNR 5G
Look up a cell
OpenCelliD · OpenStreetMap
Not sure what to enter? — an O2 UK 4G cell near Wrexham.
> Enter a network's MCC and MNC and a cell ID to see where the cell is and how far it reaches.
Positions are estimated from people's measurements, not the operator's mast locations. The circle shows how far away the cell has been picked up.
Crowd-sourced cell measurements from OpenCelliD, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · as of 2026-09-18. Counts are cells people have measured, not an operator's own figures.
What you need to look up a cell
Four numbers identify a cell anywhere in the world. Your phone, modem or network log will show all of them, though sometimes under different names.
MCC
Mobile Country Code
234
Three digits for the country. 234 is the UK, 310 to 316 the US. More on MCCs.
MNC
Mobile Network Code
10
Two or three digits for the operator within that country. 234 10 is O2 UK. Find a network's code.
LAC / TAC
Location or Tracking Area Code
50322
The group of cells the tower belongs to: LAC on 2G and 3G, TAC on 4G and 5G. Leave it blank if you don't have it.
Cell ID
CID, ECI or NCI
2192494
The cell itself. On LTE you can also type the eNB and sector, like 8564-110. Hex works with a 0x prefix.
Cell IDs by radio technology
Every generation names the area and the cell differently. The search takes them all in the same two boxes.
| Radio | Area code | Cell ID | Size | Made of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GSM 2G | LAC | CID | 16-bit · 0–65,535 | Just the cell. BSIC is the local code on the air. |
| UMTS 3G | LAC | UTRAN cell ID | 28-bit · 0–268M | RNC ID × 65,536 + CID. PSC is the local code. |
| CDMA 2G | NID | BID | 16-bit · 0–65,535 | Base station ID. OpenCelliD files the SID as the MNC. |
| LTE 4G | TAC | ECI | 28-bit · 0–268M | eNB ID × 256 + sector. PCI is the local code. |
| NR 5G | TAC | NCI | 36-bit · 0–68.7B | gNB ID + cell, split 22 to 32 bits by operator. PCI is local. |
How to find your cell ID
The cell your phone or modem is using right now, and the numbers to paste into the search above.
Android
Install a free network monitor such as NetMonster, Network Cell Info or CellMapper. The serving cell shows MCC, MNC, LAC/TAC and the cell ID, and on LTE the eNB and sector too. Some phones also show it in the testing menu: dial the code below, then open Phone information.
*#*#4636#*#*iPhone
Dial the code below and press call to open Field Test mode. Recent iOS versions show less than they used to, and which fields you get depends on the model and the modem, so the cell ID isn't always there.
*3001#12345#*Modem (AT commands)
Turn on location reporting, then ask. Here C492 is the TAC and 0021746E the ECI, both in hex: search them as 0xC492 and 0x0021746E. On 2G and 3G, use AT+CREG the same way.
AT+CEREG=2
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 2,1,"C492","0021746E",7
OKLinux (ModemManager)
mmcli reports the 3GPP location in hex once location gathering is on.
mmcli -m 0 --location-enable-3gpp
mmcli -m 0 --location-geteNB and ECI converter
An LTE cell ID packs two numbers together: the eNB (the base station, usually one mast) and the sector (one antenna on it). ECI = eNB × 256 + sector. Apps and forums tend to quote “8564-110”; logs and APIs give 2192494. 3G works the same way, with the RNC and a 16-bit CID.
You don't need to convert before searching: the lookup accepts either form.
8564 × 256 + 110 = 2,192,494 · hex 0x21746E
Look up cells from code
The search on this page is a plain HTTP call to /api/v1/cells. Call it yourself to geolocate cells from modem logs, drive-test exports or IoT telemetry. Every result names the matching network, with a link to its page.
- →100 lookups a week without a key, 10,000 with a free account
- →Up to 50 matches per call, most recently seen first
- →Decimal or 0x hex ids, and a
radiofilter
curl "https://mcc-mnc.org/api/v1/cells?mcc=234&mnc=10&area=50322&cell=2192494"{
"data": [
{
"radio": "LTE",
"generation": "4G",
"mcc": "234",
"mnc": 10,
"area": 50322,
"cell": 2192494,
"lat": 53.0741,
"lon": -3.1679,
"range": 2456,
"samples": 51,
"lastSeen": "2026-09-06T10:33:11.000Z"
}
],
"meta": {
"matches": 1,
"network": { "slug": "234_10", "brand": "O2 UK", "country": "United Kingdom" }
}
}Cell ID lookup FAQ
What the numbers mean, where the positions come from, and what to try when a cell doesn't turn up.
Still have a question?
Found a cell in the wrong place, or a network we're missing? Tell us.
Contact usWhat is a cell ID?
A number that identifies one cell: one antenna sector on one mast, for one radio technology. It's only unique inside its network, so a lookup needs the network's MCC and MNC as well. On 2G it's the CID, on 3G the UTRAN cell ID, on 4G the ECI (E-UTRAN Cell Identifier) and on 5G the NCI (NR Cell Identity).
Can I find where a phone is from its cell ID?
Only roughly. This shows where a cell has been measured from, so it tells you the phone was somewhere in that cell's coverage, which can be a few hundred metres in a city or tens of kilometres in the countryside. It doesn't locate the phone itself, and it isn't the operator's own record of the mast.
Where does the tower position come from?
From OpenCelliD, a crowd-sourced database of cell measurements published under CC BY-SA 4.0. Apps on people's phones log which cell they're connected to and where they are, and OpenCelliD averages those readings into a position and a range. The mast is usually close to that point, but it can be off, especially for cells with few samples.
Why didn't my search find anything?
Either OpenCelliD hasn't measured that cell, or one of the numbers doesn't match. Check you haven't mixed decimal and hex (hex needs a 0x prefix), that an LTE ID is the full ECI rather than the eNB alone, and try again without the LAC/TAC or radio, which only narrow the search. A missing cell isn't proof it doesn't exist.
What's the difference between LAC and TAC?
Both name the group of cells a phone moves between without telling the network. LAC (Location Area Code) is the 2G and 3G version. TAC (Tracking Area Code) is the 4G and 5G one, 16 bits on LTE and up to 24 bits on NR. The search takes either in the same box.
How do I turn an eNB and sector into an ECI?
Multiply the eNB ID by 256 and add the sector: eNB 8564, sector 110 is ECI 2,192,494. The converter on this page does it both ways, and the search does it for you if you type 8564-110.
Can I look cells up from code?
Yes. The same search is GET /api/v1/cells in the REST API, returning JSON with the position, range, samples and the matching network. Anonymous callers get 100 requests a week and free accounts 10,000. Searches on this page count towards the same allowance, since the page calls the API from your browser.
How often is the data updated?
We load OpenCelliD's exports regularly, and the date on the credit line under the map is when our copy was last rebuilt. A newly built cell usually appears once enough people with measurement apps have connected to it.