Site Map | Archives

Home › News › Local

Will the white pages wither in a wireless world?

By Sue Vorenberg
Monday, January 8, 2007

related linksMore Local
related linksMOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

related linksTRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.
STORY TOOLS

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

More than half of the city's phone numbers will likely be missing from the new 2007 Dex white pages as they appear on doorsteps across the city this month.

That's because more than half of the phone numbers in New Mexico are wireless, and wireless numbers aren't included in the white pages.

The number of wireless customers in New Mexico - 1,170,436 compared with 957,838 who use land lines - is continually growing in relation to land-line users. But the only company required to provide a residential directory is the land-line provider Qwest, said Jason Marks, the Albuquerque commissioner from the Public Regulation Commission.

And Qwest, which controls which numbers are submitted to the Dex white pages, doesn't let customers from cell phone companies - even their own - add their numbers to the white pages, said Gary Younger, a spokesman for the company.

That leaves the question: Are the white pages really the place to go to track people down anymore - now that more than half those people are missing?

No, said John Chilelli, an Albuquerque telecommunications expert who has helped found several telecom companies.

"That industry is changing too rapidly," Chilelli said. "The white pages have never been too profitable. The time when everybody had a land line is gone, and with it will probably go the white pages. It's been overcome by technology."

Still, R.H. Donnelley, the North Carolina company that bought the Dex white and yellow pages from Qwest in early 2005, has no intention of getting rid of either product in Albuquerque, said Mike Truell, a spokesman.

"The death of directories isn't happening," Truell said. "It's a growing business."

Most of the statistics the company collects are on its yellow pages, which are doing well online and in print form in all 28 states the company represents, Truell said.

Nobody denies that yellow pages - and advertising in them - will continue to be a revenue generator, Chilelli said.

But even with that product, he sees the print edition eventually becoming an online-only service - and white pages could easily be lost when that happens, he said.

"Nobody out there has figured out how to monetize white pages," Chilelli said.

Truell said he realizes more and more people aren't in the white pages, but oddly enough, they're still the same size, he said.

That might be because the population is growing, but he's not sure, Truell said.

Still, he's also aware many people don't want to be listed, Truell said.

"Many people with cell phones, they like not having their phone numbers listed," Truell said. "Over the years a lot of folks have decided to opt for an unlisted number. The white pages has never been comprehensive for everyone."

Small businesses, consultants and even some residents still want their cell phones listed, however, so people can get in touch with them.

That's no problem if they want to get in the yellow pages. But if they want to get into the white pages they have to go through the land-line provider - and those companies, like Qwest, don't have to include numbers from outside sources, he said.

"Generally, if you want to be listed, you can call a land-line provider," Truell said. "Do they have to put you in? No."

There has been some discussion among wireless companies about creating a national directory of their own, but they haven't gotten very far, said Lauren Garner, a spokeswoman for Cingular Wireless.

"We have explored the possibility of a wireless 411 service, but it's not offered, and we have no immediate plans," Garner said. "If we were to offer the service it would be with strong privacy protections in place. You couldn't just call and get somebody's number. They'd have to ask to be listed."

The general switch from land lines to cell lines hasn't hurt any public services like 911, at least, Marks said.

Both cell and land customers pay fees to support those services.

Voice-over-IP companies - like Vonage and others that provide phone service over the Internet - are another story, Marks said.

Those customers don't pay to support local services, even though they've been told by the PRC that they have to, he said.

"So far they've been ignoring us," Marks said. "We imagine that will eventually end up in court."

VOIP companies also don't provide telephone directories of their customers, Marks said.

One of the benefits of having an unlisted wireless number is that telemarketers don't call, said Chilelli, who hasn't had a land line in at least six years.

"Listed numbers are used by telemarketers, so not being listed has never been a problem for me," Chilelli said. "My friends know how to reach me."

But how do you find cousin Bob or your old college buddy Fred when you've lost touch with them for several years?

"I don't think there's a good answer to how you'll find people in the future," Chilelli said. "Maybe the model that will eventually win out is the one where you pay a company to track someone down for you."

Then again, you can always give the Internet a shot first, said Joe Farren, a spokesman for CTIA - The Wireless Association.

"Just use Google - that's what I use," Farren said.