Telemarketers and Cellphones

“The Cellphone Sellout” (editorial, May 25) and “Coming Soon: A Cellphone Directory” (May 20) wrongly imply that telemarketers are eager to use a soon-to-be-published national cellphone directory to sell their products and services.

In fact, businesses actively avoid placing marketing calls to cellphones. Per the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress in 1991, it is illegal to market to any electronic device if the recipient incurs charges.

New Federal Communications Commission rules went into effect earlier this year that allow land-line phone numbers to be ported to cellphones. As an unintended consequence, the new rules can result in the accidental placement of calls to ported cellphones. However, the Direct Marketing Assn., in cooperation with the FCC, is developing a system that will ensure that marketers continue to avoid placing calls to cellphones that have been ported from land lines.

H. Robert Wientzen

President, Direct

Marketing Assn., New York

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I simply registered my cellphone numbers with the Do Not Call Registry at the same time I registered my land lines. Simple solution.

Michael Wolfstone

Monterey Park