Mobile carriers have technical information about devices connected to their networks that ordinary websites do not have. That does not create a public “enter any phone number and see its location” service.
A cellular network has to know enough about a device to deliver service. Phones register with cells, move between coverage areas and exchange signalling information with the network. That creates network-side information that can sometimes be used to estimate where a device is within the carrier’s infrastructure.
The precision and availability of that information vary by technology, network design, device state and legal/operational circumstances. It should not automatically be described as GPS.
GPS/GNSS coordinates are calculated from satellite-navigation signals and other device/location services. A carrier can have network-derived location clues without receiving a precise GPS fix from the phone.
Modern emergency and platform systems can combine multiple methods, but the source matters. “The network can approximately locate a device” and “any website can retrieve exact GPS coordinates from the number” are completely different claims.
Consumer support procedures vary. A carrier may help suspend the SIM, replace service, block an IMEI or give security advice. The normal consumer recovery route for a smartphone is usually the lost-device service already connected to the handset’s platform account rather than asking a call-centre agent for a live network map.
For Android, start with the platform recovery steps in How to find a lost Android phone.
Law-enforcement and emergency access depends on jurisdiction, urgency, technical capability and the legal/process framework that applies. Carriers can be required or authorized to provide information in circumstances where an ordinary member of the public cannot obtain it.
This is why claims such as “police can locate a phone, therefore this website can too” are misleading. Access rights and technical interfaces matter.
No. The LocationOf number information tool analyses the number itself: its calling code, numbering region and basic formatting clues. It does not query a carrier, signalling network or subscriber database.
LocationOf’s GPS tracker receives location from an Android device on which the app was installed and authorized. That is a device-to-service relationship, not carrier interception.
Removing a SIM changes the device’s normal relationship with that subscription, but does not physically disable the handset’s GPS receiver or Wi-Fi. For the practical implications, read Can you find a phone after the SIM is removed?.
If a website claims it has “carrier access” for arbitrary phone numbers, look for a credible explanation of who operates the service, what authorization exists and what data source is actually being used. A progress bar labelled “connecting to network towers” is not evidence.