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Emirati pays Dhs8 million for exclusive ‘diamond plus’ mobile number
A multi-millionaire has paid a whopping Dhs7.82 million for the UAE mobile telephone number 050 777 7777.
The Etisalat ‘diamond plus’ digits were bought at a VIP mobile number auction that saw 70 special numbers go up for grabs.
About 700 guests help raise more than Dhs20 million by bidding for the distinct digits, said Abdulla Al Mannaei, the CEO of Emirates Auction, the house that hosted the bids.
Confirming that the 050 777 7777 number went for the mammoth fee, Al Mannaei said: “It’s an easy number [to remember].”
Al Mannaei added the buyer was an Emirati who did not want his identity revealed.
“He didn’t agree to it,” Al Mannaei said.
The auction house CEO could not say for sure whether it was a record buy for a mobile number, but officials are looking into it. Al Mannaei revealed that two years ago a phone number was sold for just under Dhs3 million at an auction in Kuwait.
“And the number was easier [to remember] than that,” he said of the 050 7777 777 digits.
The auction was hosted simultaneously on Saturday at the Armani Hotel in Dubai and Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. The 70 VIP numbers were split into diamond plus, diamond, platinum and gold categories.
The buyer of the near-Dhs8 million diamond plus number package will receive 22,500 local minutes per month for two years. The wealthy Emirati phone fan will also get 2,250 international minutes per month and 100GB data per month for two years.
There are also 22,500 local text messages and 300 incoming roaming minutes per month for two years included in the deal. The package even comes with “the latest smartphone and dedicated customer care”.
But when 7DAYS called the exclusive 050 777 7777 number, it appeared that the big-bucks buyer hadn’t quite got around to activating his new Etisalat digits.
A message said: “The number you have dialled is not a working number at the moment. Please check the number and try again.”
duncan.hare@7days.ae
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