Dot Tel Central - Building the World's Largest Shared Rolodex

Sat, Nov 22, 2008: ING phone numbers and e-mail addresses on the Internet has become almost second nature to local businesses and individual Net users but a soon-to- be-launched domain name promises to take it one step further by dramatically simplifying the process of trawling for contact information online.

Mar 25, 2009: DomainPeople, Inc., the eighth official domain name registrar accredited by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has begun registering .tel domain names under the general registration period. When registration officially opened on Tuesday, March 24, 2009, registration prices dropped 90% from the premium Landrush rate.

Ottawa Citizen October 28, 2008: Asking a prospective date for a phone number is so last century. Starting soon, it'll be "what's your dot.tel?"

Nov 10, 2008: When the .mobi domain launched in September 2006, people quickly understood it was a Top-Level Domain (TLD) designed to locate mobile content in the same way—for example—that .se locates Swedish content or .museum helps users recognize genuine museum activity. In short, think "mobile phone" when you think ".mobi".

Telecom October 22, 2008: The startup's technology will let users store complete contact info on a new .tel domain—and make it available to whomever they choose.

17th of May 2006: ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) unanimously approved the creation of the new .Tel Top Level Domain (TLD) and awarded the contract to Telnic Limited.

Apr 14, 2006: As proposed, individuals could use a ".tel" Web site to provide the latest contact information and perhaps even let friends initiate a call or send a text message directly from the site…

Dec 03, 2008: Is the new ".tel" domain launching today more than just a pretty web interface to DNS? Is it something really unique? Is it a new service that couldn't be easily replicated elsewhere?

Jun 21, 2008: Telnic Limited, the Registry Operator and Sponsoring Organization for the new sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) .tel, has just announced, at the ICANN meetings in Paris, the launch of its website and date when domain name registration will be accepted. According to the announcement, the sunrise applications from national trademark owners will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis as of Wednesday, 3rd December 2008.

OUT-LAW News, 03/12/2008: The latest top level domain extension - .tel - opens for business today with a new twist on the DNS.

Dec 03, 2008: Telnic Limited, the Registry Operator and Sponsoring Organization for the new sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) .tel, has announced that domain name registrations are now being accepted (see previous coverage). "From today until February 2nd, trademark owners can register .tel domains for their brands and company names, providing them with a 'live' comprehensive listing in the first global, mobile-optimized online directory."

OUT-LAW News, 05/11/2008: A new domain to be launched in December will be the first to reject advertising, making it unattractive to most cybersquatters. The .tel domain will not host websites, only contact information that will be sent to computers and phones.

Mobile Marketer vember 25, 2008: “Registry operator Telnic will next week launch a new .tel platform that won’t require a Web site and is optimized for mobile delivery with even less code than a small-screen-formatted site. The .tel suffix is the first domain that will allow marketers to publish information to the Web, from any device, without the need for a Web site …”