[OSM-talk] Proposal 'man_made:tower' and 'communications_transpoder'

[Lennard]

John Smith wrote:

> Jokes aside that isn't actually far fetched since the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) has a big database of this information available, although I'm not sure of the license on the data and I don't really want to be the one responsible for importing it either for that matter.

Indeed, it isn't far fetched at all. There has already been an import of 
tower locations in The Netherlands, both broadcast and GSM/UMTS.

The official registry is here:

http://www.antenneregister.nl/www/tpl/frameset.html

The interesting part is that they also have public field strength tests, 
radiated power, directional coverage, frequency band.

At the moment, they have been imported in a way that will not render:

height=46
source=Antennebureau
source_ref=http://www.antenneregister.nl/
technology=GSM 900

Examples:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/node/277227846 (this is a mast)
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/node/277227844 (church tower)

If the current proposal takes off, it wouldn't be that hard to do a 
re-import or re-tag them.

> The important bit is this, not all of these will be free standing GSM type base stations, some will be base stations installed on buildings/power poles, others are installed on water towers. Now that I think about the specifics of GSM antenna installations, it just re-enforces my thoughts that this should really be man_made=tower, tower:type= ...

The hard part in the NL import will be determining whether it's an 
actual tower/mast, or on the roof of a building.

-- 
Lennard