(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- The first online auction of special mobile numbers has fetched more than RO300,000, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) stated. TRA stated that the two licensed mobile operators (Omantel and Ooredoo) concluded the first special number online auction.
'The two-day auction began on February 8 and achieved great success with a total of RO311,000 being raised. Omantel numbers were auctioned for RO287,500 while Ooredoo numbers fetched RO23,500. As many as 258 participants registered for the auction, of which 222 registered for Omantel and 36 for Ooredoo special numbers auction,' TRA stated.
It added, 'Twenty special numbers from both mobile operators were auctioned. Omantel had seven diamond numbers and three gold numbers while Ooredoo had four diamond numbers and six gold numbers.'
The special number 71111111 was sold for RO196,000 at Omantel's auction and the highest bid at Ooredoo's auction went for the mobile number 79100000. The online bidding was conducted through the websites of the telecom companies with the participants registering through the said websites.
The bidding system was established and developed by TRA in coordination with the telecommunications companies. As per international best practices, the money from the number auctions will be allocated to charitable organisations approved by the Ministry of Social Development in the sultanate, as stipulated by Article 16 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Act and its executive regulations (49), which stipulates that 'the authority shall determine and collect the allocation charge for premium numbers and shall deposit the proceeds in a special account to be spent for good purposes according to Article 16 of the Act'.
Accordingly, the TRA followed a defined mechanism to distribute the auction proceeds on an annual basis, where TRA contacts charities at the beginning of each year as per lists of charities approved by the Ministry of Social Development, to submit their annual plans and projects. TRA then studies these plans and projects and determines a specific amount of total revenues from special numbers auctions for distribution to these organisations, after obtaining the approval of TRA Board of Directors.
'With regard to bidding registration fee, this is regulated by the recently issued regulation organising the allocation of telecommunications numbers pursuant to Decision No 1/2018, under which the diamond and gold numbers are auctioned as per the controls set out in this regulation, with the objective of achieving transparency in the allocation of telecommunication numbers between users.
'The regulation also stipulates that telecom companies be entitled to three per cent of the registration proceeds of RO20 per bid registration with a maximum of RO5,000 for each auction after deducting any charges payable for online payment.'
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