Bidders go bonkers for easy digits

Manama: An easy to remember mobile phone number — 90000000 — was sold for 116,500 dinars (Dh1,476,670) at an auction in prestige-conscious Kuwait City.

The number was among 27 numbers sold by mobile operator Zain on Wednesday evening. Other numbers that reached high bids were 90000009 and 90009000.

Bidding for the most expensive number started at 50,000 dinars.

Buyers of the special numbers will have free one year local calls using the Zain network, Al Aan reported.

A special number — 6000000 — was sold in Qatar for 7.5 million Qatari riyals (Dh7.56 million) in 2008.

The number was bought by a Qatari businessman during a charity auction organised by Qatar Telecom (Qtel) in Doha.

However, the most expensive number in the world 6666666 was sold for 10 million riyals in May 2006. The auction started at one million riyals, but interest quickly narrowed from eight bidders to just two.

The previous record holder was Chinese number 8888 8888, sold for $410,000 (Dh1,505,630).