U.S. Mobile Phones Won’t Be Turned Over To Telemarketers
The folks at the CTIA, the mobile industry’s lobbying group here in the U.S., are letting us know something important. It’s nice to occasionally give the CTIA credit for something positive they’re doing.
Apparently, there are some rumors going around that our mobile phones here in the U.S. are about to be turned over to telemarketers! Considering that we* pay* for incoming calls and it doesn’t cost the telemarketer any more money to call a mobile phone, this is obviously a scary prospect for many people! People are being urged to register your cell phone in the national Do Not Call registry.
However, the CTIA says this is bunk. While you can–and should–register your mobile phone against the Do Not Call registry, there are no plans to make it legal to call people’s mobile phones from automated dialers–a tool the vast majority of telemarkers use to make their calls. Furthermore, the various telemarketer associations claim their members have no intention to start mobile phones.
One question I do have about this, though. What happens when a call from a landline is forwarded to a mobile phone? Many years ago when I was traveling, I forwarded my landline to my mobile phone. While I was traveling, I got a call from a telemarketer–presumably forwarded from my landline since the call was about changing my long distance service. I told the person that they were calling a cell phone and that I could not have a different long distance carrier. They hung up, of course. 
Are telemarketers able to detect a call has been forwarded and simply hang up the call? Do the various regulations account for this? Should someone who forwards their landline to their mobile phone–even temporarily–expect to receive telemarketing calls? Is that legal? What do you think?
