The Loxcel cell tower map presents you with cell sites (ie. Base Transceiver Stations) and their antenna, for all 32 carriers across Canada. This includes tiny Cochrane Telecom, Dryden Mobility and Latitude Wireless (bet you never heard of them) up to the big heavyweights (you know who they are).
We start with over 725,000 license records from both Industry Canada and selected carriers, which we filter, aggregate and correct. The result -- 110,000 antenna and 15,000 site records that you can explore on our cell tower map. We also generate reports from these antenna and site records, to help businesses and organizations make sense of the complex and growing Canadian cellular landscape.
Carriers regularly file license information with Industry Canada, which usually is accurate. But, consider what Bell Mobility recently submitted:
432121 0794610 4067 Longmoor Dr. Burlington ON
432031 0794630 4067 Longmoor Dr. Burlington ON
Although both submissions are for the same street address in Burlington, ON, their coordinates place them 1.6 kilometers apart. We take care of errors like these.
This growing thread at Howard Forums has become one of many de facto support forums for our map. Popular topics include 1) discrepancies between what people see on the map and what they observe in the real world, and 2) Spectrum Direct and TAFL, two ways that Industry Canada releases the ALS database to the public.
But what is an ALS database? How accurate is it? Who manages it? This section provides relevant quotes and Reference links back to source pages at Industry Canada, that answer these and other questions. We hope you will find this information illuminating and helpful.
With that said, let's get going.
Industry Canada is responsible for radio spectrum management. Their mandate includes:
- to ensure all radio spectrum use is compatible;
- to ensure the availability of spectrum for new users, uses, and technologies;
- to provide users with frequency assignments that meet their needs;
- to minimize occurrences of interference;
- to ensure cases of harmful interference are investigated promptly.
Reference
They also maintain the Assignment and Licensing System (ALS) database:
The Assignment and Licensing System (ALS) database contains technical, administrative, and financial data pertaining to all radio licences in Canada.
Reference
TAFL is a monthly snapshot of the ALS database, whereas Spectrum Direct is a live connection to the ALS:
The Technical and Administrative Frequency List (TAFL) ... are a subset of the information in the ALS database
The TAFL data set is available for download as a set of text files.
Reference
Also, the search tools provide real-time access to the ALS database, ensuring that you have up-to-date technical data, while the information in the TAFL files is only updated monthly. You should note, though, that the search tools will only return 2,000 records per search, so if you need the full data set, you should download the TAFL list.
Reference
Spectrum Direct and TAFL are closely related:
Spectrum Direct
The search tools provided on the site allow users to access in real time the non-protected Technical and Administrative Frequency List (TAFL): a list of Canadian radio frequency data from Industry Canada's ALS database.
Reference
But, Spectrum Direct is a clumsy way to acquire data for the entire country:
You should note, though, that the search tools will only return 2,000 records per search, so if you need the full data set, you should download the TAFL list. Also, in this beta version of the search tools, the TAFL list and the radio frequency search file data formats are not compatible.
Reference
The download limit for ALS has increased from 2,000 to 6,000 records. So, ALS is now a bit less clumsy than it was before:
The search can retrieve a maximum of 6,000 records for HTML and XML and 6,500 records for ASCII. If your search criteria would return more than the maximum number of records, an error message will appear and no results will be displayed. If this happens, please narrow your search criteria.
Reference
So there you have it: TAFL and Spectrum Direct are two avenues into the ALS database. TAFL is a monthly snapshot of the public portion of the entire ALS, and Spectrum Direct is an online portal to download smaller portions directly from ALS.
Do you want to build your own map? Or, maybe you want to count the number of towers within your city's borders. First you need to get the data:
TAFL and Spectrum Direct use different data formats. TAFL is fixed-field. Spectrum Direct offers a variety of formats, including an XML format that preserves the relationships among sites, antenna and related entities.
If you would like more information, please write to us at the email at the bottom of this webpage. We work with a number of organizations, and would be happy to work with you, too.
When you talk, text or surf on your smartphone, it transmits a continuous signal to a nearby cell antenna. Voice goes to one antenna; data to another. These antenna are components of a larger macro-cell, micro-cell or pico-cell site (commonly called cell tower) which forwards the signal, via a backhaul, to your carrier's central station. The central station then routes the signal to your destination.
The signal travels through the backhaul either
Smartphones communicate only with the antenna at the cell site, and not the microwave backhaul. The presence of a carrier's microwave station indicates only the presence of a backhaul, and not a cell site endpoint. Some microwave stations act as endpoints, connected to an adjacent cell site, which through proxy only indicate cellular coverage. Other microwave stations act as conduits, without an adjacent cell site, and offer no cellular coverage at all.
In short, cell antenna at a cell site is mandatory for cellular coverage. A microwave station indicates the presence of a backhaul, and only sometimes also the presence of cellular coverage.
Visit these maps, for a complete picture of the Canadian cellular network:
Many people and organizations, like CBC Edmonton, Le Devoir, etc. use our smartphone-friendly celltower map to spot cellular sites out in the field. It's a hobby for some, like geocaching.
But, sometimes you will look, and look -- and spot nothing. Why?
Some people consider cell towers to be an eyesore -- especially the monster macrocell variety commonly deployed along highways. These towers stand hundreds of feet in the sky, and are unsuitable for deployment in dense urban areas.
To simplify municipal approval, carriers sometimes deploy smaller microcell and picocell sites, which have no tower per-se and thus blend more easily into residential surroundings. Their much smaller size allows carriers to hide their antenna inside existing urban structures, such as church steeples, and other building enclosures.
So, if you can't spot that cell tower in an urban area, it was probably intentional.