Editorial:

Cell phone directory would add another level of intrusion

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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While landline telephone numbers are available from directory assistance and many other sources, including the Internet, cellular telephone numbers are essentially unlisted and private.

They should remain that way.

Jeff Strunk, a Maine entrepreneur, disagrees.

Strunk, originally of Farmington, has founded Wireless Directory Network of Carrabassett Valley to create a 411 directory system for cell phones.

The current directory assistance business for hardwired phones generates some $8.5 billion in annual revenue, according to estimates. Strunk believes that with the addition of cell phone numbers, the service could be more profitable.

He is probably right. And he deserves credit for his willingness to battle some of the giants in the wireless telephone industry about the idea.

While we applaud Strunk for his creativity and his willingness to tangle with major corporations, the idea of listing people's cell phone numbers is bothersome. It would add another level of intrusion in a world where there are already too many.

There is a big difference, after all, between calling people at home and calling them at a cell number that catches them where they happen to be at that moment. The cell calls' recipients might be driving, picking up children, attending a meeting, studying, dining out, dining in, enjoying a movie at a theater -- or at home, walking on a beach, walking on a sidewalk. ...

We understand that anyone with a cell phone can be interrupted at any time without the existence of a cell phone directory. But in most cases, the callers are people to whom they have given their cell numbers. The calls, therefore, are less likely to be intrusive.

The creation of a cell phone directory would almost certainly increase the volume of calls -- especially unwanted calls -- that many people receive, including those from solicitors and fundraisers.

If a cell phone directory were available, the telemarketing industry would be all over it like a rash. Guaranteed.

Calls offering credit cards, driveway paving, vinyl siding or discounted vacations in return for touring time-shares are bad enough when they come on home telephones. Imagine receiving them -- especially those recorded sales pitches -- while you are meeting with the boss, merging onto Interstate 95 or slathering on sunscreen at the ocean.

No thanks.

And the solution is not to suggest that people turn off their cell phones if they want to avoid such calls. First, no one should have to do that. Second, by turning off their phones to avoid irritating calls, they are missing important -- or at least less-annoying -- calls, too.

A further concern: In many cases, people pay for most or all of the calls they make from or receive on their cell phones. Those minutes should not be wasted on unwelcome, unappreciated interruptions.

The best way to ensure this is to keep cell phone numbers unlisted and, as much as possible, private.