Wisconsin’s Do Not Call list reaches another milestone. When the list is updated next month it will contain a record amount of phone numbers that are off-limits to telemarketers, with 2.28 million now registered.
Brock Bergey with the state Division of Consumer Protection says that’s the highest count since the program began in 2003. Part of the reason for higher number is linked to cell phone registrations, which made up almost 48-percent of new numbers added during the summer sign-up period.
It’s only been in recent years that cell phones were allowed on the list, thanks to a change in state law.
Bergey says the changing use of landlines also likely plays a role in the size of the list growing. He says more families are giving up their land line, which results in multiple cell phones for each household that can be registered.
There was also a big increase in the number of out-of-state numbers, with nearly 30,000 from area codes not in Wisconsin now on the list. Bergey says that’s most likely from students attending Wisconsin schools who normally live in another state.
The state’s Do Not Call list is updated four times a year. The next deadline to add a number to the list is November 30th.