A proposed Wireless 411 directory for cell phone numbers should include only the names of consumers who want to be listed, representatives of the industry and consumer groups told Congress on Tuesday.
But the witnesses before the Senate Commerce Committee split over whether privacy protections in the first national database of cell phone numbers should be voluntary or must be spelled out in a federal law similar to the Wireless Privacy Act introduced by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Executives of wireless companies said the federal government shouldn’t try to regulate the new, potentially profitable service, which is desired by millions of cell-phone users, including those who no longer have land-line phones.
The AARP, privacy advocates and representatives of phone users countered that the main concern of the vast majority of cell-phone users is to make sure that neither they nor their children are listed on the service. They said that could cost them money or usage minutes for a flood of incoming calls from firms or people who are strange, scary or annoying.
Boxer and Specter, whose primary concern is consumer privacy, said they are working on modifications to their bill that might bridge such differences with Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who share the industry’s concerns over rigid regulations. The compromise’s provisions will include a guarantee that “nobody has to pay to make sure that their number is kept private,” Wyden said.
Because it will take time to rewrite the Senate bill, and the House won’t hold its first hearing on the companion bill until next week, Congress is likely to delay a decision until after the election or early next year.
The six big wireless companies that want to create the directory hope to have it up and running by March. The project is coordinated by the Washington-based Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association and backed by Cingular Wireless LLC, its second largest member, and AT&T Wireless, which Cingular wants to acquire, as well as Alltel, Nextel, Sprint PCS and T-Mobile.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
