CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidgsmtelephonytelecommunicationcellular-network
Zeeshan Ali
Zeeshan Ali

Reputation: 128

How to get devices Cell IDs under same BTS?

I have to develop an android application that has to get all mobile devices info in same Telco BTS as mine phone. Can I get all other mobile devices cell IDs?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 864

Answers (1)

Mick
Mick

Reputation: 25491

In the comments you mention your requirement is 'I only have to send a broadcast to all the neighboring mobile devices'.

There is actually a solution built into most deployed GSM networks to do this already - it is called Cell Broadcast (or sometimes SMS-CB).

It is usually intended for emergency situations and allows an operator to send a message to all the devices in a given cell efficiently and even when the network is congested.

There is also a newer standard eMBMS which is similar concept but designed for multimedia broadcast, so maybe suitable to more commercial applications. This is not so well deployed at the moment, AFAIK.

Either way, the API's are in the Telco's domain and not available to a device unless the Telco has provided a special service for this.

As others have pointed out, a regular Android device will not have the ability to discover all its peers or to message everyone in the same cell, although a telco could provide a web service that the device could call if they wished.

The division between the 'phone' part of an Android phone and the 'app or computer' part of the device is strictly defined in Android - the intent is not only to protect privacy etc but also to protect the phone functionality and the network from malicious or malfunctioning apps.

Upvotes: 1

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