Oct 22, 2008 : 100 Registrars To Offer .tel

📅 October 22, 2008 - The registry operator for the new ".tel" top level domain, Telnic Limited (telnic.org) has announced that 100 ICANN-accredited registrars have signed up to sell .tel domain names well in advance of its December 3 launch.


According to the company's announcement Wednesday, the one hundredth registrar to sign up was Network Solutions (networksolutions.com 👉 Total Reviews: 35
🙌 Average Rating: 1.6 / 10
👍 Good Reviews: 3
👎 Bad Reviews: 32
👈 Official Responses: 0), which is the third largest in the world. The first registrar to join was European domain specialist EuroDNS (eurodns.com 👉 Total Reviews: 1
🙌 Average Rating: 10 / 10
👍 Good Reviews: 1
👎 Bad Reviews: 0
👈 Official Responses: 0).

A .tel domain is unique because it has the ability to host personal or corporate contact information directly in the domain name system, which can then be universally accessed, compared to the typical the DNS for other TLDs in which the DNS only provides a mapping between domain names and IP addresses.

"The overwhelmingly positive feedback that we have received from the registrar community about .tel has been spectacular," Telnic chief executive officer Khashayar Mahdavi said in a statement. "We are delighted that .tel is having such a huge impact well in advance of its commercial availability. It will fundamentally change the way in which people communicate and interact."

"What is incredibly rewarding is to see the broad international support .tel has already achieved from countries such as The United States, Germany, The United Kingdom, China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia and right across Europe, but also in countries such as Malaysia, Romania, Pakistan and Turkey," said Mahdavi. ".tel truly has international appeal."

Attracting new entrants into the field such as French communications provider Digitrad (digitrad.com), .tel has provides an opportunity for resellers old and new. Telnic provides resellers with marketing material including promotional videos, simulators, logos and text to explain the .tel to members. It also supplies free, open-source software applications that support and enhance .tel usage, including plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices.

Telnic publicly showcased its .tel technology at DEMOfall in San Diego in September. The TLD will launch on December 3, 2008, when domains will be available only to trademark owners. On February 3, .tel will be more widely available, sold at premium prices for minimum three year terms. After March 24, they will be available to the general public for a regular price and a one year term.