Companies that want to register their contact details on the
.Tel internet domain, a specialist domain just for such
information, have just six weeks left before it is open season,
says Hostway, one of the
104 firms handling registrations.
Hostway said the "landrush" registration period has just
started. General registration begins on 24 March. Domain names
during the landrush are going for about $325 for three years to
discourage cybersquatters, it said.
.Tel web pages list only contact information for companies
rather than full websites. This makes it easier, especially for
mobile phone users, to get in touch. See
www.smallco.tel for an
example.
"Rather than fish around for 'About us' or 'Contact us' on the
corporate website, customers can simply log on to the .tel
address," said Hostway product manager Thomas Herbert.
Herbert said the domain aims to be the new address book for the
internet. Registrants for the domain name can simply provide their
contact details to their hosting provider and
Telnic, the body
administrating the domain name. Some details can be protected with
a password-protected friends list.
All details are hosted directly on the domain name server (DNS)
so users need no website design. When queried, the DNS replies
directly with the contact details held on it.