# Are telemarketers allowed to call cell phones?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-telemarketers-allowed-to-call-cell-phones/273546>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 7, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-telemarketers-allowed-to-call-cell-phones/273546 "2004-11-07T22:43:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hadrian0117](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hadrian0117](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian0117)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-telemarketers-allowed-to-call-cell-phones/273546/1 "2004-11-07T22:43:13Z")

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Are telemarketers allowed to call cell phones? I know pollsters aren’t because the recipient has too pay for the call. Are telemarketers subject to the same rules? If not, then why aren’t they?

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**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-telemarketers-allowed-to-call-cell-phones/273546/2 "2004-11-07T22:51:29Z")

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I would imagine that they aren’t. I remember the anti-spam debate of a few years back and it seems to be the deciding factor of what is illegal and what isn’t. For instance, it doesn’t cost extra to recieve email, snail mail, or landline telephone calls, so you get spam, junk mail, and telemarketers calling you on the landline. But it costs money on almost all plans (even if you get “free” incoming calls). And it could be really expensive if you were roaming too .

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**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-telemarketers-allowed-to-call-cell-phones/273546/3 "2004-11-07T23:18:42Z")

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[Here’s](http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=10377) a quick article (one of many) indicating that telemarketers _can_ call you on a cellular or wireless (which is it?) phone. The National Do-Not-Call list is cited as prevention.

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-telemarketers-allowed-to-call-cell-phones/273546/4 "2004-11-07T23:26:51Z")

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The relevant federal law is [47 USC 227](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode47/usc_sec_47_00000227----000-.html). It says:

> [@](#):
>
> It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States—  
> (A) to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice—  
> (iii) to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call;

It seems like a telemarketer could call you by directly dialing your number and not violate this.