The Truth about Cell Phone Telemarketing
Have you received an e-mail telling that your cell phone is
about to be bombarded by telemarketing calls as a result of
the newly proposed cell phone telemarketing? Well, stay calm.
Despite terrible warnings about the imminent release of cell
phone numbers to telemarketers that continue to be circulated
via e-mail year after year, no such thing is actually about
to occur. Rest assured that this is not the case. The truth
is, you are not about to be bombarded with telemarketing calls
on your cell phone.
But, where did these dire warnings originate?
According to some reports, ominous e-mails have been circulating
throughout the virtual world, warning consumers that telemarketers
will soon start calling cell phone numbers as a result of a
new cell phone number database. One e-mail offers, in fact,
a quick reminder that in a few weeks, cell phone numbers will
be released to telemarketing companies, thus cell phone owners
will start to receive sales calls that incur a charge. Accordingly,
to fend off the onslaught, readers are encouraged to register
their wireless numbers on the national Do Not Call list.
Well, up to now, it remains unclear as to what prompted the
e-mails to warn about cell phone marketing. However, they appear
to stem from certain reports just last year when it was proposed
by several national wireless companies like AT&T Wireless, Nextel,
AllTel and others that a national directory of cell phone numbers
will be established. It is that news actually that sparked fears
that cell phone telemarketing will be considered, allowing the
telemarketers to gain access to the cell phone numbers.
But, as I have said earlier, stay calm, as the anxiety about
cell phone telemarketing has been unfounded. First and foremost,
it is deemed illegal for the telemarketers to make sales pitches
to wireless phones by using automatic dialers, to which is how
the vast majority of telemarketing calls are placed. Another
thing is that, the cell phone telemarketing remains a hoax as
most of the big wireless carriers have chosen either not to
take part in the directory or to put off any plans to do so
in light of the consumer fears. What is maintained is that any
directory will only include those customers who agreed to participate
and that the wireless numbers will not be shared with telemarketers
or anyone else. In addition, the said cell phone telemarketing
would be impossible to occur as Congress has considered a bill
to codify such rules.
Furthermore, although there is a proposed Do Not Call Registry
program to which cell phone users are allowed to register, the
news about cell phone telemarketing remains as a misunderstanding
by those who sent the e-mails since the Federal Trade Commission
(FCC) prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to
call cell phone numbers and the federal government does not
maintain a national cell phone registry. The personal cell phone
users have always been able to add their numbers to the National
Do Not Call Registry, which is the same registry consumers use
to register their land lines. And, contrary to what some versions
of the cell phone telemarketing rumor claim, there is no 31-day
deadline for adding cell phone numbers to the Do Not Call list.
In fact, there is no deadline whatsoever.
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