Cell-phone users may soon get calls from old friends, long-lost cousins and acquaintances they thought they had ditched, when a consortium of wireless providers launches a wireless 411 service early next year. Privacy and consumer advocates are already pushing for federal legislation to make sure that people's numbers are not included in the proposed directory unless they specifically request it, since many people only give out their cell numbers to friends -- and unlike land-line phones, cell-phone users generally pay for incoming calls. But the says there is no need for government regulation since the wireless-assistance database will be opt-in, meaning no number will be listed unless a customer asks to be included.
Nor would the directory lead to telemarketing calls, since telemarketers are already banned from calling cell phones. Cell-phone users can get additional protection by adding their wireless number to the FCC's do-not-call list. The centralized directory will work much the same as other directory-assistance services, allowing anyone to call from any phone and get a person's cell number if they have enough information to help an operator find the person in the database. But the industry says it will not publish anything like a phone book.
The directory will likely increase the number of cell-phone calls and could earn the industry billions of dollars in revenue each year. Still, Verizon Wireless, which has 38.9 million U.S. customers, says it will not provide numbers to the system because its customers do not want it. Verizon's public opposition, however, is at odds with its user-agreement contracts. Like many land-line phone company agreements, Verizon's says the company has the right to provide a phone number to a directory unless the customer pays it not to.
That contradiction is one of the reasons Congress or the Federal Communications Commission needs to step in, says Consumers Union policy analyst Adam Goldberg. "Just because there is a promise today, that doesn't mean that's how it is going to work out in the future," Goldberg said. "Without any rules from the FCC, the contracts you sign up for are going to be your opt-in, and that's a huge problem. We want to see legislation that says you really have to opt in, and if you don't opt in, you don't have to pay.
Consumers Union set up a website, escape cell hall, in order to persuade members of Congress to regulate the directory, and over 10,000 of its members have already sent messages to Congress. Cell-phone customers need not worry, according to John Walls, CTIA's vice president for public affairs. It's a totally opt-in (program); a number will only be added when a consumer makes a decision," Walls said. "We're not going to assess a fee either way." Providers who join the wireless-assistance directory agree to language that overrides any previous contract that would let them charge customers to stay out of the database, according to Walls.
In conclusion the group opposes legislation that would make law what the industry group says it is doing voluntarily. Though Senate and House bills were introduced last fall, neither has even been the subject of a hearing, and neither is likely to be acted on before the current session comes to a close. A similar measure is pending in California, which has a history of passing consumer-protection legislation before the federal government does.
Nor would the directory lead to telemarketing calls, since telemarketers are already banned from calling cell phones. Cell-phone users can get additional protection by adding their wireless number to the FCC's do-not-call list. The centralized directory will work much the same as other directory-assistance services, allowing anyone to call from any phone and get a person's cell number if they have enough information to help an operator find the person in the database. But the industry says it will not publish anything like a phone book.
The directory will likely increase the number of cell-phone calls and could earn the industry billions of dollars in revenue each year. Still, Verizon Wireless, which has 38.9 million U.S. customers, says it will not provide numbers to the system because its customers do not want it. Verizon's public opposition, however, is at odds with its user-agreement contracts. Like many land-line phone company agreements, Verizon's says the company has the right to provide a phone number to a directory unless the customer pays it not to.
That contradiction is one of the reasons Congress or the Federal Communications Commission needs to step in, says Consumers Union policy analyst Adam Goldberg. "Just because there is a promise today, that doesn't mean that's how it is going to work out in the future," Goldberg said. "Without any rules from the FCC, the contracts you sign up for are going to be your opt-in, and that's a huge problem. We want to see legislation that says you really have to opt in, and if you don't opt in, you don't have to pay.
Consumers Union set up a website, escape cell hall, in order to persuade members of Congress to regulate the directory, and over 10,000 of its members have already sent messages to Congress. Cell-phone customers need not worry, according to John Walls, CTIA's vice president for public affairs. It's a totally opt-in (program); a number will only be added when a consumer makes a decision," Walls said. "We're not going to assess a fee either way." Providers who join the wireless-assistance directory agree to language that overrides any previous contract that would let them charge customers to stay out of the database, according to Walls.
In conclusion the group opposes legislation that would make law what the industry group says it is doing voluntarily. Though Senate and House bills were introduced last fall, neither has even been the subject of a hearing, and neither is likely to be acted on before the current session comes to a close. A similar measure is pending in California, which has a history of passing consumer-protection legislation before the federal government does.
