A demeanour during .Tel’s 14 year, £25 million journey -
Telnic has lost £25 million since it was founded — and much of that was before .tel even launched.
It’s been a long and winding road for many new top level domain applicants. But most of the delays and challenges new TLD applicants have faced pale in comparison to the very long, very expensive road that .tel registry Telnic has traveled.
What is .tel?
.Tel is a unique sponsored top level domain.
A couple things make .tel particularly unique. First, you can’t ... read more ...
Tag Archives: telnic
Thu 2nd May 2013
Thu 27th January 2011
Numeric Only Domains Coming to .Tel -
777.tel on its way.
Soon you’ll be able to register .tel domain names existing solely of two or more digits.
This week ICANN’s Board of Directors agreed to amend its registry agreement with Telnic to allow for the numeric domain names.
Telnic requested the change through the Registry Service Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process, which opened up the proposal to public comments.
Go Daddy filed comments opposed to Telnic’s plan. The registrar argued that the change ... read more ...
Mon 12th April 2010
.Tel and .Asia By The Numbers -
A look at end of year numbers for .tel and .asia.
With .tel recently going through its first annual renewal period, and Telnic’s official numbers for end-of-year 2009, I thought I’d compile some stats on the new top level domain.
Total number of .Tel domains registered as of 12/31/09: 263,304
Top 10 registrars of .Tel domains:
1. Name.com LLC 25,344
2. Mesh Digital Limited (DomainMonster) 24,984
3. Key-Systems GmbH 19,581
4. OVH Sarl 13,699
5. EuroDNS SA 13,606
6. ... read more ...
Tue 23rd March 2010
Reality Check: .Tel Enters First Renewal Period -
.Tel travels into “renewal valley”. How will it come out on the other side?
The folks at .tel registry Telnic are certainly sweating this week: .tel domain names registered during general availability are hitting their first renewal period.
I call this period — when new top level domain names hit there first renewal period — the “valley of renewals”. Renewal raters during this critical time are a barometer for how the TLD is doing as a whole, and the ... read more ...
Wed 10th February 2010
Domain Parking Coming to .Tel -
Domains that aren’t used for web sites to get Google ads.
It was only a matter of time, right?
.Tel registry Telnic announced that .tel domain name owners will soon by able to integrate Google Adsense into their domain names. That means they’ll be able to add Google’s pay-per-click ads to their .tel domain names through the .tel management interface. The net effect? You’ll be able to turn a .tel into a parked domain name full of ads.
Technically, .tel users ... read more ...
Thu 4th February 2010
Buy a Domain Name With Your Latte -
New gift card lets retail shoppers pick up a domain name on impulse.
You can register domain names through web sites, twitter, and text message. So why not buy one with your latte?
A new gift card from Canadian domain name registrar WebNames.ca lets customers buy a voucher for a .tel domain name at the cash registrer and then redeem it online. The card is apparently being offered (or soon will be) at CanTalk Wireless and Blenz Coffee in Canada.
A number of domain ... read more ...
Thu 14th January 2010
IDN .Tel Domain Names Coming Soon -
Internationalized domain names on their way to .tel.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has approved Telnic’s request to offer internationalized domain names on .tel. .Tel registry Telnic made the request to offer IDNs on December 2, and ICANN Chief gTLD Registry Liaison Craig Schwartz notified Telnic of approval today via letter.
By offering IDN domain names, users will be able to register .tel domain names in their native language and character ... read more ...
Thu 10th December 2009
Telnic Wants to Release .Tel IDNs -
.Tel registry asks ICANN to let it register IDNs.
.Tel registry Telnic has sent a letter to ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom requesting permission to issue internationalized domain names (IDNs). The letter (pdf) from Telnic CEO Khashayar Mahdavi requests ICANN authorization to release domains that contain hyphens in the third and fourth positions from the pool of reserved domains in the .tel registry agreement. This would enable IDNs.
In his letter, Mahdavi writes that Telnic ... read more ...
Sun 22nd November 2009
UK Bill Would Regulate Domain Name Registries -
Bill probably meant to regulate .uk but could ensnare .tel.
A bill introduced in the United Kingdom Parliament would have potentially adverse effects on domain name registries operating out of the United Kingdom.
The Digital Economy Bill includes clauses that would allow the government to essentially nationalize a domain name registry that met certain qualifications of “failing”. Although the bill was probably meant to target .uk registry Nominet, it was written ... read more ...
Fri 16th October 2009
Yahoo Wins Yahoo.tel Domain Name in Arbitration -
Yahoo picks up .tel domain name.
An arbitrator with National Arbitration Forum has awarded Yahoo! the Yahoo.tel domain name. Yahoo was the first major tech company to file arbitration for a .tel domain when it filed its case back in August.
The respondent in the case did not file an official response. Instead, he challenged the authority of UDRP proceedings in Spain.
Through correspondence dated September 23, 2009, the Attorney of Respondent submitted a written ... read more ...
Fri 28th August 2009
Yahoo Fights for Yahoo.tel -
Yahoo is first major tech company to try to get .tel domain name through domain arbitration.
Yahoo has filed for arbitration with National Arbitration Forum to get the domain name Yahoo.tel. Yahoo is the first major tech company to try to get its hands on a .tel domain name through arbitration. Many other tech companies, including Google, registered their .tel domain names during the so-called “sunrise period” for about $300. Arbitration will cost the company ... read more ...
Wed 13th May 2009
TelFeeder Populates .Tel Domain Names -
System makes it easier to populate multiple .tel domain names.
A new service called TelFeeder.com has launched, helping owners of multiple .tel domain names quickly upload data.
.Tel domain name owners download a simple XML file and open it in Microsoft Excel. Next, they input data according to each field (i.e. e-mail address) and save the file. Then users upload the file through TelFeeder.com and the .tel domain names are automatically populated with the data.
TelFeeder.com ... read more ...
Fri 27th March 2009
The .Tel Search Engine Factor -
Will .tel be good for search? I have my doubts.
Checking in at forums and on comments at Domain Name Wire, it’s clear that a lot of people think .tel domain names could be a search engine gold mine. The premise is that the data on .tel domains is very structured, and Google can easily index it. Thus, if you get a good keyword.tel you can get traffic and include links to other web sites.
This is true. But people expecting Wikipedia-like saturation and rankings ... read more ...
Thu 26th March 2009
.Tel Tops 100,000 Registrations -
New domain extension tops 100,000 registrations.
The new .tel top level domain name now has 100,000 registrations, just one day after launching in general availability, registry operator Telnic announced. That’s certainly a good start, but the true test will be if Telnic’s non-domain registrar channels can deliver.
If we assume an annual ongoing registration fee of $15 and that Telnic gets about half of that, 100,000 domains means $750,000 in revenue. With ... read more ...
Wed 25th March 2009
.Tel Expands Distribution Capability -
Telnic inks deal with MySpace and directory companies.
When I last saw Telnic’s Justin Hayword, he told me the company had something in the works that would address one of my chief concerns about .tel: getting to critical mass quickly.
Telnic has signed a deal with MySpace and British Telecom (BT) to sell the domain names, and also with a German directory provider, which should give the domain a boost.
The truth is the typical domain channel for selling domains ... read more ...
Tue 3rd February 2009
.Tel “Landrush”: What You Need to Know -
Phase one of open registration is now open for .tel.
The first phase of open registration for the new .tel domain name is underway. I’ve been a vocal critic of .tel, even suggesting that the $35 million investment in .tel registry Telnic should be written off as a loss. I don’t want it to fail and hope that time proves me wrong. I just think the odds are stacked against it.
At DOMAINfest last week I talked with Telnic’s Justin Hayward. I’ve talked with ... read more ...
Mon 12th January 2009
Telnic Trips Up with Baidu.tel -
Company touts first-come-first-served .tel rights, but it sends a mixed message.
Telnic, the company behind the new .tel top level domain name, sent me a press release today touting that Baidu.tel had been awarded to Baidu Europe, a company that uses Baidu.eu. .Tel has a first-come policy for claiming trademark domain names during the sunrise message.
The implicit message is that Baidu, the Chinese search engine, didn’t get the domain because it didn’t apply ... read more ...
Thu 13th November 2008
.Tel Has Benefits, But Many Challenges -
In an interview with Telnic, I learned more about the top level domain and its benefits.
The first time I wrote about .tel was back in 2006 when it was approved by ICANN. I wasn’t a big fan of it back then. I wrote about it again earlier this week, and said I still think this domain extension is a longshot.
Earlier today I talked with Justin Hayward, communications director for .tel backer Telnic. My general opinion is the same, but there are some ways, if executed ... read more ...
Mon 10th November 2008
Telnic: A $35 Million Investment Gone Awry -
Luck seems to be running out for investors in .tel registry. And it hasn’t even launched yet.
A new top level domain, .tel, is getting ready to rollout in the first part of next year. The registry behind the domain — Telnic — has raised a stunning $35 million in outside capital before even launching the domain name.
.Tel isn’t a traditional domain name where you register it and then put up a parking page or web site. Instead, your .tel domain name is sort ... read more ...