January 2005
Ring in the New Year
Cell Phones and the National Do Not Call Registry
Register Your Cell Phone
By now you've probably heard a lot of buzz about registering your cell phones on the National Do Not Call Registry and about a January, 2005 deadline. There's been a lot of talk that if you don't register, your phone will be ringing off the hook with telemarketing calls. I've tried to get the facts for you. There is NO deadline and there will be NO telemarketing calls.
Just the Facts
There is a proposed directory of cell phone numbers, but it is misleading in stating that such a directory will "soon be published" (the word "published" implies making a printed directory available, which the wireless consortium maintains they will not do) and in directing readers to sign up with the The National Do Not Call Registry. The latter step will not keep wireless customer listings out of the proposed Wireless 411 database - it will only add their phone numbers to a list of numbers off-limits to most telemarketers, a step which is premature (because the Wireless 411 directory has not yet been implemented) and largely unnecessary (because the Wireless 411 directory information is not supposed to be supplied to telemarketers, and because FCC regulations already in place block the bulk of telemarketing calls to cell phones). (see Urban Legends)
Register Anyway
To date, more than 69 million numbers have been registered on the Do Not Call List. If you haven't done so already, register your phone numbers (including your cell phone) at Do Not Call List
You will receive an email from Register@donotcall.gov. To complete your registration, you must open the email and click on the link provided. Important: If you do not click on the link in the email within 72 hours, your phone number will not be registered.
After you register, your phone number will show up on the registry by the next day. Telemarketers are required to search the registry every three months and delete from their call lists phone numbers that are in the registry. You can register up to three numbers at the same time.
What's the Buzz?
A consortium of wireless providers is planning to create a 411 (directory assistance) service for cell phone numbers.
Six national wireless companies (AllTel, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint PCS, and T-Mobile) have banded together and hired Qsent, Inc. to produce a Wireless 411 service. Their goal is to pool their listings to create a comprehensive directory of cell phone customer names and phone numbers that would be made available to directory assistance providers.
The wireless companies behind the proposed Wireless 411 service contend that their service will be beneficial to cellular customers and that they have addressed those customers' major concerns about access and privacy:
- The service would save money for the estimated five million customers who use only cellular phones and currently pay to have their cell phone numbers listed in phone directories.
- The Wireless 411 service would be strictly "opt-in" - that is, wireless customers will be included in the directory only if they specifically request to be added. The phone numbers of wireless customers who do nothing will not be included, those who choose to be listed can have their numbers removed from the directory if they change their minds, and there is no charge for requesting to be included or choosing not to be included.
- The Wireless 411 information will not be included in printed phone directories, distributed in other printed form, made available via the Internet, or sold to telemarketers. It will be made available only to operator service centers performing the 411 directory assistance service.
Nonetheless, many consumers don't trust the Wireless 411 consortium to uphold their promises, and although Qsent and its clients plan to make the Wireless 411 service available sometime in 2005, its implementation in that time frame is far from certain, as the wireless companies are still fighting proposed legislation which seeks to regulate wireless phone directories.
For more information about Wireless 411 service, click here: http://www.qsent.com/wireless411
Other Important Information
The National Do Not Call Registry is only for personal phone numbers. Business-to-business calls are not covered by the National Do Not Call Registry.
Your phone number will remain on the registry for five years from the date you register (unless you choose to take it off the registry or your phone number is disconnected).
Not Covered
If the call is really for the sole purpose of conducting a survey, it is not covered. Only telemarketing calls are covered - that is, calls that solicit sales of goods or services. Callers purporting to take a survey, but also offering to sell goods or services, must comply with the National Do Not Call Registry.
Even if you do not register with the National Do Not Call Registry, you can still prohibit individual telemarketers from calling by asking them to put you on their company's do not call list.
Political solicitations are not covered by the TSR at all, since they are not included in its definition of "telemarketing." Charities are not covered by the requirements of the national registry. However, if a third-party telemarketer is calling on behalf of a charity, a consumer may ask not to receive any more calls from, or on behalf of, that specific charity. If a third-party telemarketer calls again on behalf of that charity, the telemarketer may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000.
Additional information is available at the Federal Trade Commission website: www.ftc.gov
