Currently there are several online directories available. However, terms and services may vary. According to the Los Angeles Times, an upcoming cell phone directory, which supposedly includes 75 percent of all cell phone users, is in process. Unless you opt out at the beginning of your contract with your service provider, your provider is likely to release your contact information.

Submitting your number to the “Don Not Call List”, a list providing for use against annoying telemarketers, may help to eliminate this problem. However, there is some controversy as to whether or not the list is even secure.

While a cell phone directory may initiate potential problems with telemarketers and other unwanted callers, on the other hand, it will offer convenience for personal use. It will make available the conveniences of any telecommunications operative service.

Below are the facts about telemarketing in regards to your cell phone:

FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent.

The federal government does not maintain a national cell phone registry. Personal cell phone users have always been able to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry — the same Registry consumers use to register their land lines — either online at www.donotcall.gov or by calling toll-free 1-888-382-1222 from the telephone number they wish to register. Registrations become effective within 31 days of signing up and are active for five years. There is no cut-off date or deadline for registrations.
Business-to-business calls are not covered under the Registry.

For More Information
To learn more about the National Do Not Call Registry and the rules that enforce it, visit the FTC at www.ftc.gov or the FCC at www.fcc.gov. For more information about a planned “wireless 411” directory, visit http://www.qsent.com/wireless411/index.shtml

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to take complaints), or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.