---
title: "What is HLR (Home Location Register)?"
url: "https://lookvalid.com/glossary/hlr.md"
canonical_url: "https://lookvalid.com/glossary/hlr"
last_updated: "2026-10-17"
type: "conceptual"
summary: "The Home Location Register is a database inside a mobile network that records each subscriber and which network equipment currently serves them."
related: ["https://lookvalid.com/glossary/line-type.md", "https://lookvalid.com/glossary/number-portability.md", "https://lookvalid.com/glossary/carrier-lookup.md", "https://lookvalid.com/products/phone.md"]
---

# What is HLR (Home Location Register)?

The Home Location Register is a database inside a mobile network that records each subscriber and which network equipment currently serves them.

The Home Location Register is a database inside a mobile network that records each subscriber and which network equipment currently serves them. An HLR lookup asks that database about a mobile number.

A lookup can tell you whether the number is connected to a network right now, which network it is on, and whether the handset is roaming. That makes it the closest thing to asking "is this mobile number live?" without sending a message.

HLR data only exists for mobile numbers and has to come from a carrier or an aggregator that talks to carriers, so it is a paid, per-query data source. A check against the numbering plan alone cannot give you any of it.

## Related

- [What is Line type?](https://lookvalid.com/glossary/line-type.md)
- [What is Number portability?](https://lookvalid.com/glossary/number-portability.md)
- [What is Carrier lookup?](https://lookvalid.com/glossary/carrier-lookup.md)
- [Phone Numbering-Plan Validation API](https://lookvalid.com/products/phone.md)