Lebanon’s first mobile phone auction took place at the Movenpick Hotel on October 3, although it wasn’t the auction Lebanese have been waiting for. In a scene more evocative of recent auctions for license plates in the Gulf, more than 100 deep pocketed individuals and their proxies paid $200 for the opportunity to bid on 33 ‘platinum’ MTC Touch phone numbers. The crowd was mostly male and Lebanese, with a sprinkling of Emiratis, Qataris and Kuwaitis. They smoked cigars and munched on free sushi during the auction registration. After the national anthem signaled the auction’s start, the auctioneer announced the first “beautiful” phone number and bidding kicked off to whistles and applause as young women in taut black dresses carried card board signs announcing the number offered. The highest bid went to an anonymous buyer, who paid $450,000 for the mobile number 70.707070. Many buyers declined to identify themselves, or
