Qatar mobile phone number sold for $2mn

An easy to remember mobile phone number - 6000000 - has been bought by a Qatari businessman for 7.5 million riyals ($2 million).

The number was sold during a charity auction organised by Qatar Telecom (Qtel) in Doha.

As many as 51 mobile phone numbers beginning with the digit six were offered for sale at the auction. The successful bidder, a national, asked for his identity not to be disclosed.

The number 6000002 attracted the second-highest bid of 3.3 million riyals.

It is the latest in a series of auctions by Qtel, the most notable being one held in May 2006, when the mobile phone number 6666666 was sold for 10 million riyals, setting a world record for the most expensive mobile phone number.