World’s most expensive phone number sells at auction for $2 million

Upon a first reading of this story, the natural reaction is to say “What a waste of money!” But when you read that the massive amount of cash spent on a single phone number went to charity, well, at least the money didn’t all go to waste.

At an Abu Dhabi-based charity auction, the number 777-7777 and its accompanying package from Middle Eastern phone company Etisalat, sold for 7,877,777 dirhams – approximately $2.1 million.

According to The National newspaper, which first reported the story, there is a catch with this purchase—the unnamed buyer does not actually own his or her new mobile number, as all numbers technically belong to the government. Instead, the winner receives a two-year phone contract for Etisalat’s Diamond Plus package. This includes 22,500 phone minutes, 22,500 text messages, and about 100 Gbytes of data every month (works out to be about 12 hours of calls and 725 texts a day).

For those who enjoy comparison shopping, according to the Etisalat website, the standard VIP package costs about $230 / month.

There were other phone numbers auctioned off at the event, albeit less desirable combinations. The number 777-7770 went for roughly $340,000, despite a warning from the phone regulator saying days before the event that they hold the right to change or withdraw special numbers at any time.

Story via: bbc.com