Devices and methods are disclosed which relate to the gathering and recording of network availability and attributes in a location in order to define location based services. Registration logics onboard mobile communications devices collect network data as they roam inside and outside of their home cellular network. The registration logic sends this data to a registry in the form of a data message. The registry is updated by each instance of a received message. The aggregation of this data allows the system to adaptively learn about network availability in geographic locations. The data collected may also assist in the recovery of lost or stolen phones since the phone location is frequently updated.