Question

I have been facing a scenario where I have observed that Android’s TelephonyManager is providing me location area code and cell ID even if there is no SIM card in the phone.

        cellLocation = (GsmCellLocation) mTMInstance.getCellLocation();
        if(cellLocation == null)
            return false;
        currentCellID = ((GsmCellLocation)cellLocation).getCid();
        currentLac = ((GsmCellLocation)cellLocation).getLac();
        currentImsi = mTMInstance.getSubscriberId();

Could someone confirm if you have faced similar issue? I have compiled on froyo and am running the app on Gingerbread.

Answer 1

Post a few observations, I have concluded that Android (and Blackberry) can provide the network details even if a SIM is not available. The reason for this is that gsm radio is built into the phone which doesn’t need a SIM to detect networks, but only to select one of them.