January 23, 2005
Cellphone Directory Gets Put On Hold
Consumers waiting to dial 411 to get a national directory of cellphone numbers are going to have to wait a bit longer, reports the WSJ.
"A consortium of cellular carriers was poised to start offering the service later this year, but the directory now seems to be in limbo as some carriers like Sprint and Alltel seem to be worried about bad publicity over privacy concerns and possible new government regulations.
Other operators like Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular are strongly opposed to the directory and won't provide their numbers at all.
The difficulty of listing a cellphone number is one factor in people not going completely wireless. And many users indicate they want to keep their numbers private, and fear telemarketing would spread to their cellphones -- even though federal law forbids telemarketers to call cellphones."
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