Blumenthal Says Cell Phone Directory

 Would Be Bad For Consumers

HARTFORD (AP) — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is calling on the cellular phone industry to ditch plans to create a directory assistance system for wireless phone numbers.

Such a proposal, Mr Blumenthal said Monday, could subject cell phone users to unwanted telemarketing calls, leading to hundreds of dollars in unwanted charges and an invasion of people’s privacy.

“They have too many unknowns and dangers and too few protections at this point,” he said.

But an analyst specializing in directory assistance counseling said consumers should not be worried. Kathleen Pierz, of the Michigan-based Pierz Group, said there are plenty of safeguards, and studies in other countries show costs averaging only 45 cents a month.

“This is so buttoned up from a customer point of view, people don’t have to worry,” said Ms Pierz, who added that cell phone companies have enlisted the help of a data security company to keep the phone numbers and make sure the list is inaccessible to others.

Mr Blumenthal sent letters to six cellular phone companies and the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, the wireless phone industry’s trade group.

According to the trade group’s website, a wireless 411 database would only include customers who choose to participate. There would be no published directory and customers would not be charged to remain unlisted.

In September, the organization’s president and CEO, former pro football player Steve Largent, testified before a congressional committee that it was premature for lawmakers to consider regulating a service that has not yet been made available to customers.

There was a bill before Congress this year that would have prohibited cell phone companies from listing names in a directory unless the consumers elected to participate.

Mr Largent said the concept of a directory assistance system for cell phone numbers is still in the planning stages.

“If there are wireless customers who have serious reservations about this service or who just do not want to be bothered with the choice of opting-in, they have the option to switch to a carrier that is not participating in the wireless 411 service,” he said.

Cell phone companies have also told Mr Blumenthal’s office there are no plans to sell any list of phone numbers to telemarketing companies. Mr Blumenthal, however, said if such a list is created, it is inevitable that it would be sold to someone, possibly telemarketers.

“If the lists are there, they will be sold,” he said. “They are so valuable. No cell phone company will resist the temptation to sell those lists for the huge profits.”

But Mr Pierz said there are federal laws preventing entities from calling a cell phone. That means, she said, there is no marketing value to such lists of numbers.

“There is no intrinsic value to the list,” she said.

Mr Pierz said many people have become fearful about the initiative, which may become available late next year, because of an erroneous e-mail that has been circulated.