A growing number of people are ``going completely wireless, enjoying the freedom and flexibility with accessibility that provides to them,'' he said at a news conference to announce his latest initiative.

``But what they don't enjoy is getting unwanted calls from telemarketers and others that invade their privacy and consume their calling card minutes. It just adds insult to injury when you have to pay for a junk call,'' he said.

Of immediate concern, Perdue said, is a plan announced by six major wireless carriers to publish a national directory of mobile phone numbers.

``That directory would put our private cell numbers out there for all the world to see, including telemarketers, text message spammers, stalkers and other unwanted callers,'' he said.

He said he will have legislation introduced in the Senate to require a wireless service provider to obtain the written consent of a consumer before publishing their name and number in any directory of database.

The law would allow consumers to sue carriers for civil damages if their names and numbers were published without their consent.

Perdue also has proposed the ``Slam Spam E-Mail Act,'' which would punish spammers with a felony if they send more than 10,000 false or misleading messages in one day, generate large amounts of money from spam, or use minors to help them transmit the e-mails.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)