Submission + - Do Tell, the sTLD .Tel is not another .Mobi
uruiamme writes: Dot Mobi, move over! There is a new kid on the top level domain domain block. The ICANN approved .Tel as a new sponsored TLD on May 30, 2006, and now the registry will soon be publishing their timetable in the next few weeks. If they follow the same track as other TLDs, there will probably be a pre-registration period for early to mid-2007, and then we may see open registration by latter part of 2007. However, open registration is not completely accurate, because this is a sponsored TLD, which means it is not necessarily a free-for-all like .mobi or .biz. From what I can tell about the way TelNic submitted their proposal to ICANN, they are going to be somewhat more restrictive than .mobi, but only time will tell. Think of this sTLD like a .museum or .pro, which require a certain amount of complex approval to be registered. In other words, the .mobi folks might at least be relieved to know that this TLD may not be quite as easy to register. There will likely be some kind of qualifications or proof supplied by the registrants of .tel. The specifics of this process are probably still being hammered out by the Telnic Ltd. folks in London.
Details are extremely limited at this time, since the TelNic folks are in complete control of the process. However, there are some rumors being spread that .Tel will conquer .mobi in short order. Before these rumors go too far in their predictions, I would suggest you read my note below. I believe that the two sTLDs are indeed different and not exactly competing for the same type of registrant.
Note
It would appear that the .Tel registry is going to be quite a different animal from the other TLDs. For example they are trying to do some very interesting things in the Domain Name System (DNS) records. A typical .com, .net, or even a .mobi registrant can do whatever they please with DNS records, which can contain A, MX, AAAA, TXT, and CNAME records, to name a few common ones. But the registrant of a .Tel domain has no such privilege. Perhaps the registry will have to make changes to DNS records for registrants, and/or cause registrants to limit their DNS records for .Tel domains to those records which they allow.
One record which they intend to publish is the NAPTR record, which if you follow VoIP technology, you might have encountered before. The ENUM system uses this record type in DNS to map numbers to people and companies.
[Quote from the .Tel Sponsorship Agreement, Appendix S that the ICANN approved:]
So what good is a domain name of example.tel if there is no www.example.tel? I am not sure I follow their logic, but it would appear that not too many websites will be allowed such a privilege. They seem to be restricting .Tel to usages other than the World Wide Web. i.e. No Slash dot Tel!! If so, then before you register a boatload of .tel domain names during the landrush or sunrise periods, you better read and understand the DNS, their AUP, and some technical aspects of the whole process. I am not so sure this will be something a typical user is going to need just yet, but perhaps VoIP technology will someday make having a .Tel domain name commonplace.
Details are extremely limited at this time, since the TelNic folks are in complete control of the process. However, there are some rumors being spread that
Note
It would appear that the
One record which they intend to publish is the NAPTR record, which if you follow VoIP technology, you might have encountered before. The ENUM system uses this record type in DNS to map numbers to people and companies.
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So what good is a domain name of example.tel if there is no www.example.tel? I am not sure I follow their logic, but it would appear that not too many websites will be allowed such a privilege. They seem to be restricting