insight 

Today saw the launch of .tel, a domain intended to act as a repository for contact data and an information sharing platform, rather than as an address for a web site.

Owners of .tel domains will be able to populate them with their contact details, such as their phone numbers, email addresses or GPS data and store this information directly into the Domain Name System.  The data is then displayed in a standard way for anyone visiting the .tel address, no matter what browser or device they are using.

Owners of .tel domains will be able to manage their contact details via a simple dashboard and include as much or as little information as they want to.

The “sunrise” phase for trademark owners to get domains related to their brands begins today, followed by a “landrush” phase open to anyone starting on 3 February 2009. The final general availability phase starts on 24 March 2009 when the domain will be open to all comers.

There will be a number of factors that have an impact on the success of .tel, most importantly how businesses react to this new top level domain (TLD).  Businesses will need to be aware of the potential uses of .tel and how it can work for them.  They should have a clear and robust domain name strategy in place, so that when new TLDs such as these (and there may be potentially many more coming with the new ICANN process for allocating TLDs opening up next year) come onto the market they are ready for them.

As can be seen from data within our recent domain name industry report the challenge for new top level domains is to serve a particular market need, increasing their usage over time and thus sustaining long-term popularity.  For instance, our report revealed that 81% of UK SMEs choose .uk as their primary web address and consumers choose to visit a .uk site because it shows a business is local and trusted. It will be interesting to track the success of .tel.