Wireless directory worries cellphone patrons

[darrels joy]

Wireless directory worries cellphone patrons

The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill. - January 23, 2005


Jan. 23--University of Illinois student Salmaan Akhtar has heard the rumors.

If he did not list his cellphone number on the national Do Not Call registry by the end of this month, telemarketers will start calling his cellphone.

Not true.

Or if he wanted out of the directory, he would have to "opt out" by notifying the carrier, according to another rumor.

Also not true.

There is a 411 wireless directory in the works, but only some wireless providers are participating in it. And customers who want their numbers listed must notify their carriers.

If you don't want your number listed, you don't have to do anything, according to Jeff Fishburn, spokesman for Qsent, the Portland, Ore.-based company organizing the directory.

Still, the idea of a wireless 411 directory does not sit well with Akhtar, a senior studying nuclear engineering.

"The whole reason for getting a cellphone is to avoid the hassles of landline phones," he said, and one of those hassles is telemarketing calls.

"When I give out my number to potential employers, I give them my cellphone number. I'd hate to have to start screening calls and miss a call from one of those potential employers," Akhtar said.

His provider, Cingular, is one of a handful of cellphone carriers who have agreed to participate in the directory. The others are T-Mobile and Nextel.

Wireless providers that will not participate, at least in 2005, include Verizon, U.S. Cellular, Sprint and Alltel.

"One of the primary concerns of our customers is trusting the industry," said Keith Blackmon, U.S. Cellular's senior director of sales and marketing for the Midwest. "By participating in this, we could be violating that trust," he said.

What prompted these carriers to say no is that most cellphone customers do not want to be listed in the directory, company representatives said.

"Cellular service is one of the few places where you know your privacy is protected," said David Clevenger, spokesman for Verizon Wireless. "We have chosen not to because we feel our customers do not want us to participate," he said.

"I'm pretty selective about giving out my number, and I think most people are. When you get a call, you're paying for it," explained Jacquie White, manager of the Champaign Telephone Co., which sells Verizon service.

A wireless directory can be useful and convenient to consumers, but only when they want it, said Jennifer Walsh, Sprint spokeswoman.

"There has been a lot of misinformation and attention to the subject. Our decision was to let some of this uncertainty get resolved before we went forward," Walsh said.

In response to the rumors that have been flying throughout the winter, the Federal Communications Commission issued a statement to quell some fears.

The directory shouldn't cause wireless customers to receive telemarketing calls, the commission stated. Due to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, telemarketers are prohibited from using auto-dialers or recorded messages to call a cellphone.

Doors to the directory will be closed to telemarketers, Fishburn said.

"It's secure. And the companies involved (in the wireless directory) respect consumer choice and privacy," he said.

There will not be a paper or online version of the directory, Fishburn added. If someone wants a cellphone number, he or she calls 411 and asks for it.

There is no fee for having your number listed. But if you want to find out a number, there will be a charge. This fee varies by carrier and can range from 25 cents to $1.50, Fishburn said.

If their carriers are participating in the directory, customers may start hearing about the option from the carriers this spring. However, it probably won't be until fall or winter of 2005 that people will be able to dial 411 and request a person's cellphone number, Fishburn said.

"The main thing is customers have a choice whether they want to be included," said Nextel spokeswoman Arianne Venuso. "Given that Nextel provides service to many businesses, a lot of our customers may be interested people in real estate might want to be included. But customers won't be included unless they opt in. We want to protect their privacy," she said.

Jeanne Gustafson, executive director of the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, said she does not oppose the directory.

Cellphone calls may interrupt people while they are in meetings or elsewhere, but customers can always turn off the phones or put them on silent or vibrate mode, she said.

"I'd rather be accessible," she said.

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