Posted by Randy (SD) on September 12, 2004 at 10:55:15:
Scam? I don?t know? the first concern I have is they all charge about $80 per number, don?t know about you but NOBODY?S information is worth $80 to me! I was in management positions for 12 years with Verizon and Cellular One before that, unless the customer requests the number to be published (most carriers charge $25 to publish it) or they have some way to ?Hack? into the secure billing software (not likely) the information is confidential and not publicly available. This is the reason your caller ID does not show the name with a wireless caller in the first place, carriers do not share the database with the telephone company.
This article published by CTIA 8/9 (CTIA is the online source for news releases by and for the wireless industry):
411, Some Want It, Some Don’t
In coming months, wireless subscribers will be able to list their wireless numbers in directory assistance services, making the numbers available to anyone who calls 411. However, consumers’ numbers will only be listed with their express consent. Wireless carriers, including Nextel, Cingular, Sprint & AT&T, will contact their customers to ask if they want to list their numbers. New customers will be asked when they sign up for services. No charge will incur for listing or not listing a wireless number. Many wireless subscribers, including taxi drivers and real estate agents, want to make their wireless numbers available. The directory is also attractive to the nearly 8 million wireless phone users who no longer use traditional wireline phones. However, according to a survey by a market research firm, nearly 90% of the 160 million wireless consumers do not want their wireless numbers included for fear of privacy issues. (Source: Washington Post)
And this one: Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Wireless Directory Assistance May Be Available in 2005
According to a USA Today report, early next year U.S. wireless subscribers may be able to call directory assistance and locate a wireless number. The proposed directory will not list every number, only those numbers’ of customers who want to be included. In order to protect consumer privacy and address other concerns, plans for wireless directory assistance require wireless customers to opt in, or give permission to have their wireless numbers included. Additionally, users will have to call the 411 directory in order to find a number; there will be no print or online directory. Real estate agents, plumbers and others in small businesses who use wireless phones on the job are requesting a wireless directory. Wireless directory assistance is also attractive to the estimated 5 million wireless subscribers who pay about $10 a month to publish their wireless numbers in landline directories. Currently, Verizon Wireless has chosen to not offer the directory service to their subscribers. (Source: USA Today)