By Dixon Stone

The Vicksburg Post

 

Frustrating calls and texts from solicitors can now be a thing of the past for Mississippi cell phone users.

Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, with Central District Commissioner Cecil Brown and Southern District Commissioner Sam Britton officially announced that, as of July 1, Mississippi’s “No Call List” is now available to cover cell phones.

Prior to July 1 only landlines were eligible to be on the state’s list.

“After eight years of advocating for cell phone numbers to be included on the No Call list, to say I have been looking forward to this day would be an understatement,” Commissioner Brandon Presley said .

According to a news release from Presley’s office, the program began in July of 2003 and by law prohibits those attempting to sell consumer goods and services by telephone from calling numbers that appear on the “No Call List.” Legislation had failed to include cell-phones numbers, as mobile phones where not used as a primary means of contact during time the law was passed.

“I would like to thank the Mississippi legislature for changing the law to add the cell phones that so many now use as their primary contact number,” Presley said.

The program is administered by the Public Service Commission and designed to reduce the number of telemarketing calls subscribers receive. The commissioners do forewarn users that it will not eliminate all telemarketing calls, and it take 60 days for numbers to become effective on the list.

According to Commissioner Brown’s Facebook page, there are already 50,000 numbers enrolled on the list after a little over a week of being live.

Mississippians who wish to add their cellular telephone number to the No Call list should contact the PSC at 1-800-356-6428 or online at www. psc.state.ms.us/nocall.