A UAE auction of unique two-digit phone numbers has attracted bids of up to Dh200,000 ($54,458).
Telecommunications company Etisalat is offering shortened phone numbers with hashtags that act as the user's unique identity.
Lots going under the hammer on the Emirates Auction website include #10, #1234, #11 and #55555.
More than 350 online bids have so far been lodged on the 40 numbers on offer.
The price will cover use of the number for 12 months, with monthly rental charges also to be applied.
Only Etisalat customers with post-paid numbers can subscribe to the service.
The most popular number so far is #10 ― the lowest available ― with a top bid of Dh200,000 out of 26 offers, ahead of #11 at Dh113,000 from 21 bids.
The number #1000000 has had the most individual bids so far, at 44, with a high offer of Dh45,500.
Another number catching the eye of phone users is #1000, with 30 bids, the largest of which is Dh31,000.
People can bid online until 8pm on June 22.
“The service is a premium value-added service which allows an Etisalat mobile post-paid customer to subscribe to a unique identity (a ‘#TAG’) and have a right to use #TAG as per this agreement,” it said on the Emirates Auction website.
“Such a #TAG allows the customer to be called by dialling the customer’s #TAG instead of dialling the customer’s 10-digit mobile number.”
The number cannot be transferred to another person and the cost will not be refunded if the customer wants to terminate the service.
Once the number is activated, the customer may not receive calls from non-Etisalat callers for up to five business days, as other telecom operators will have to configure their settings.
The subscriber will be able to receive only local calls because the service is not compatible with international operators or from customers using roaming.
Latest auction is a hit
The success of the auction comes as little surprise, given the popularity of car number plate auctions regularly held in the UAE.
In April, Abu Dhabi's exclusive "2" car number plate sold for Dh23.3 million ($6.3m) at a charity auction for a global free meals campaign.
A total of Dh111m was raised for rare licence plates as well as exclusive mobile phone numbers.
Proceeds from the Most Noble Numbers event went to the One Billion Meals initiative to provide food for people in need in 50 countries during Ramadan and beyond.
Top 10 Etisalat number bids
#10 – Dh200,000 (current high bid)
#11 - Dh113,000
#55 - Dh94,000
#99 - Dh91,000
#22 - Dh91,000
#50 - Dh73,000
#69 - Dh71,000
#90 - Dh71,000
#333 - Dh61,000
#55555 - Dh55,000
Scoreline
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Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
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Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
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Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis