"Lucky" phone numbers up for sale again in February

13 ธันวาคม 2559

No one was willing to pay 20 million baht in November for the two 'luckiest' mobile phone numbers, but with a new starting price of "only" 1.5 million, NBTC officials expect strong interest in February.

No one was willing to pay 20 million baht in November for the two 'luckiest' mobile phone numbers, but with a new starting price of "only" 1.5 million, NBTC officials expect strong interest in February.

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Second auction for 'lucky' phone numbers in February

Komsan Tortermvasana

The auction for the second batch of VIP and auspicious mobile numbers is set to take place in February, with up to 500 million baht expected to be generated in revenue for the state.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) plans to auction 1,525 mobile numbers. Of the total, 137 numbers contain seven identical digits each and 1,388 contain six identical digits each.

Secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the NBTC has set the initial median price for the numbers with seven identical digits at 1.5 million baht each and those with six identical digits at 350,000 baht each.

"We expect to approve the final draft of the second auction in January next year," he said.

Mr Takorn said the second auction is expected to attract at least 500 people, including individuals who want a lucky number at a more affordable price than those offered during the first auction that took place on Nov 27.

The first auction could generate 58 million baht in revenue for the state.

The 16 VIP and auspicious mobile numbers included 099-999-9999 and 088-888-8888, the two most coveted numbers that were set at a starting price of 20 million baht each.

The 14 other numbers had a starting price of 6 million baht each.

Only nine numbers were auctioned off on Nov 27. There were no bids for seven mobile numbers including 088-888-8888 and 099-999-9999.

Mr Takorn said the unsold seven numbers will not be included in February's auction. He also said the regulator will not reduce the median price for the unsold numbers.

"The first batch of 16 numbers served as a benchmark for the auction in February and the future," he said.

The NBTC initially planned to auction more than 1,500 auspicious mobile numbers in one go, either to be done online or via a traditional live auction at its headquarters.

The regulator previously wanted to outsource the auction to a specialist to handle. But there was no company qualified to do so, due to the regulator's strict requirement that the auctions of 1,500 mobile numbers must generate at least 1.8 billion baht for the state.

The NBTC finally decided to hold the auctions of VIP and auspicious mobile numbers by itself, Mr Takorn said.