Phone company hoping to hit jackpot with auction of lucky numbers
[Hey, will I be able to choose my G* phone number?]
Tuesday May 4 1999
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Taiwanese will soon be able to bid for mobile phone
numbers that are considered lucky, a company said.
Dozens of numbers considered especially auspicious
according to traditional beliefs will go on the block this
month, with bidding expected to reach into tens of
thousands of dollars, Chunghwa Telecom said.
Chunghwa has been hoarding the numbers for years in
hopes of cashing in thanks to superstitious customers,
said Lee Yeuh-sha, director of the company's service
department.
She said the company was encouraged by a preliminary
auction last month where NT$80,000 (HK$18,000)
was paid for the number 456789 - representing ever
increasing success in business.
Other auspicious numbers have four nines, four eights,
or four sixes, considered auspicious because they
represent words in the Mandarin and Taiwanese dialects
meaning lasting success, wealth and profit, Ms Lee said.
But not all consumers are simply bent on harnessing
numerology to make a quick buck. Ms Lee said another
sought-after number was 988988 - made up of numbers
whose homonyms are a couplet wishing long life to one's
father.
Chunghwa already allows customers to pick numbers
reflecting birthdays or selected according to numerology
by paying an extra fee, Ms Lee said. The least popular
number was four. Its homonym meant death, Ms Lee
said.
Chunghwa ended its monopoly on mobile services in
December 1997. But the state-owned giant still boasts
2.5 million of a total of four million accounts on the
island.
Copyright ©1999 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.
All Rights Reserved.
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