Wireless directory draws cheers, jeers

The wireless industry insists that customers are clamoring for directory assistance for mobile phone numbers, although critics – including IT executives – say the move carries unacceptable risks for businesses.

The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) and five of the six largest wireless carriers are developing a plan to include wireless phone numbers in a database accessible by dialing 411 as early as the first quarter of next year.

The CTIA, AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Nextel Communications, Sprint PCS and T-Mobile are behind the effort. Verizon Wireless denounces the directory initiative, saying it compromises user privacy and is unnecessary.

“Let’s, as an industry, stop pushing something on customers that they clearly don’t want,” Verizon Wireless CEO Denny Strigl said at a recent conference. “It’s a dumb idea.”

Backers of the directory insist privacy will be paramount. The group will use one unnamed aggregator to store the numbers in a database. The CTIA says the numbers will not be published, posted on the Internet or sold, but would only be available to 411 operators.

Users must formally request to have their number included in the directory. If no request is made, the number will remain private. Neither choice will come with any additional cost to subscribers, according to the carriers and CTIA. This is particularly important, as users who opt in to the directory could be looking at higher usage rates because wireless users pay for all incoming and outgoing calls.

Such assurances have not been enough to squelch criticism of the proposal.

“At RKA Petroleum, privacy is a huge issue, especially since 65 percent of our cellular fleet is with our petroleum truck drivers,” says Jason Hittleman, vice president of information systems at the Romulus, Mich., company.

Despite promises from carriers to keep numbers private, there are concerns about how the numbers will be kept private once they are part of a database.

“If these numbers became available to the public, our drivers could begin receiving unsolicited phone calls, which could distract them from the road,” he says.

Federal and state legislation is in the works aimed at keeping a close check on how the carriers handle this service. One federal bill – the Wireless 411 Privacy Act – mandates that carriers stick to their promise that only those opting in will be listed and that no one will be charged. The bill also stipulates that the database of mobile numbers never be published or distributed.

The CTIA says such legislation is premature.

“It’s unnecessary because we haven’t done anything wrong,” says John Walls, vice president of public affairs at CTIA. In the competitive wireless services market, if a carrier does something to irritate its customers, they have the option to take their business and phone numbers elsewhere, which is more effective than legislation as a deterrent, he says.

The critics remain unmoved by such logic.

“Customers see opt-in as a disingenuous foot-in-the door, leading to ‘opt-out’ clauses and fees for not publishing a number,” Verizon Wireless’ Strigl said last month addressing The Yankee Group’s 2004 Wireless Leadership Summit. “Nor does opt-in allow customers any degree of control over how and to whom their information is revealed. They either keep full privacy or face full exposure with nothing in-between.”

One analyst says some user’s numbers already might be in queue to be included in such a directory.

“Business users and consumers may have already given away their rights to privacy in their contracts,” says Bob Egan, president of consulting firm Mobile Competency. Users might find language in their contracts that let their carrier publish their number in a directory if one is developed, he says.

The directory proposal has supporters other than the service providers that stand to profit from it. Hawaii Home Loans is an all-wireless business with 80 wireless voice and 65 wireless data users.

“We could see the benefit of having a wireless directory include all of our business numbers,” says Leonard Loventhal, a senior vice president at the Honolulu company. Such a directory could make the company’s employees more accessible to clients, he says. Loventhal says he doesn’t have concerns about privacy because all the company’s wireless numbers already are included in advertising and printed on letterhead.

Business customers concerned about the directory should stipulate that none of the telephone numbers associated with their contract ever be included in a wireless directory, says Phil Redman, analyst at Gartner. In addition to that stipulation in the contract, users should consider instituting policies that let employees know exactly where the company stands on this issue, he says.

RKA Petroleum’s Hittleman agrees.

“I would institute a very strict policy to prevent [employees] from publishing numbers in such a directory,” Hittleman says. “We would adopt this policy under our corporate handbook and tie it in to issues surrounding privacy and confidentiality.”

The only customers who do not need to worry about being included in the directory are those using Verizon Wireless. Because the carrier says it will not participate, even Verizon Wireless customers who might want their name included in the directory will not have that option.

But the service provider points out that wireless users could choose to have their wireless phone numbers listed in any standard white-pages directory as a second line. Users typically pay about $2 per month for this listing.