Telco regulator confirms Hong Kong mobile numbers will soon start with ‘unlucky’ digit 4
But subscribers could get lines starting with ‘lucky’ digit 8, which will also be among 10.6 million new phone numbers issued to satisfy intense demand
Hong Kong’s mobile phone operators will soon issue numbers starting with “unlucky” digit 4 or “lucky” digit 8, although they are keeping mum about how they will market these to consumers who are both superstitious and hungry for mobile devices.
The telecommunications regulatory body confirmed on Monday that to meet demand for mobile numbers, it would make available to operators 10.6 million new numbers with prefixes 4, 7, and 8.
It expected operators to start assigning the numbers this month, with the bulk of new numbers starting with 4.
Hong Kong’s mobile operators at odds over whether to include ‘unlucky’ digit in new round of phone numbers
Hong Kong has one of the world’s highest mobile phone penetration rates, with 18.2 million subscribers in a population of about 7.3 million as of last September – or more than two devices per person.
About 145,000 new mobile numbers are registered each month and demand is expected to intensify as 5G smartphones and “Internet of Things” devices enter the market in 2020.
The Office of the Communications Authority (Ofca) had in October 2015 proposed using new prefixes and recycling old numbers, after it estimated that the stock of available eight-digit numbers would run out as early as November this year.
Migration to nine-digit numbering was put on the back burner, as it would be disruptive and require upgrades to networks and databases, Ofca said.
