Bidding for smartnumbers Hots Up
16 August 2004 at 1:08 pm
Twelve registered and anonymous charities are set to compete for four numbers in the first-ever smartnumbers auction to be held by the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) on 16 August.
ACA Acting Chairman Dr Bob Horton says the first round of auctions was triggered because more than one charity had nominated the same numbers.
The numbers to be auctioned are 13 4357, (HELP) 1300 274 747 (CRISIS) 1300 326 459 (FAMILY) and 1800 366 283(DONATE).
Dr Horton says that eligible charities had nominated a total of 86 smartnumbers. Each number can be used as a phoneword and has a strategic link to the charity involved.
He says the majority of these numbers had been nominated by only one charity. This means that most charities could be allocated the number they have chosen at the special charities reserve price of $100, unless another organisation nominates the same number within the 10-day notification period which is now under way.
Dr Horton says the response from charities has been very pleasing, exceeding expectations and reflecting a positive response by organisations wanting to make the best of this opportunity.
smartnumbers include six-digit 13 numbers and 10-digit 1300 and 1800 numbers that have not been available before and are being allocated under the new auction system. There are about 1.8 million numbers available for allocation, including 1.2 million new numbers. Charities are able to obtain one number of each type, under preferential arrangements made by the ACA.
There is also no registration fee for charities. But they need to be income tax exempt and have a strategic link to the smartnumbers they want to secure for example 1300SALVOS.
Public auctions of smartnumbers are set to begin after 18 August.
There is a once-off registration fee of $88 per business with the ACA setting a reserve price of $500 for the vast majority of numbers being made available. Easy-to-remember numbers that are seen as having the highest commercial value, such as 1800 27 27 27, have reserve prices of up to $40,000!
The final charity bids are not expected to be revealed!
