Can a person actually be addicted to the telephone, if so what can I do about it?

I have a constant need to talk on the phone, since childhood. I cannot ever unplug it or ignore it when ringing and most of the time I have to be the one to answer it or I become agitated and anxious. I spend roughly 4 hours a day on the telephone calling everyone I know, and when I have no one to talk to I will even call up people from the past that I have had lost touch with just to hang up when they answer, and at other times I will randomly call numbers from the yellow pages (businesses) to ask for useless information, for example asking their operating hours or location, just to have someone to call. If during an argument someone hangs up on me, I have been known to call constantly harassing them till they pick up again. I am far too embarassed to ever ask someone about it in person. I'm curious if this could be a byproduct of bi-coastal parenting where the relationships were prodominantly kept going via telephone.

there only one cure, call me ;)

Yeah people can become addicted to using the phone. You see it all the time among young people who wouldn't know what to do with themselves if someone took their phone away from them.
You don't need to tell anyone you know about this but you do need to talk to someone. Find a counselor who can help you with this so you can do something useful with your life. There are plenty of these guys in the phone book or ask someone, like your doctor, for a recommendation. Also, your insurance company may keep a list of counselors that they use and you could pick on of those.

I was addicted to it when I was younger. I had a phone in my room but that all changed when my mom had it disconnected.