New Domain Suffix Seen As Phone Book

The new .tel domain suffix is intended as a kind of phone book rather than a place to build sites, say the people who run its registry.

You probably didn’t notice it, but yesterday a new domain suffix was rolled out. The .tel suffix is now available for those who want to buy domains, but this one has a bit of a difference – it’s intended as a contact point, a kind of phone book, rather than a place to build sites, or so say those behind the domain’s registry, according to the BBC.

Kash Mahdavi, head of Telnic, which runs the .tel registry, said:

"All other top level domains like .com use the net’s domain name system in the same way. They all store IP address and they are all about websites."

By contrast, as the Telnic site explains, “the .tel is a service that allows individuals and businesses alike to store and manage all their contact information and keywords directly in the DNS without the need to build, host or manage a website.”

So it won’t just be for the Web, but will also work with smartphones, and could feature e-mail contact addresses or buttons to allow phone contact.

Those who buy a .tel domain will be able to publish as much or as little information as they wish, and manage it all via a simple dashboard. As of now, trademark owners can buy domains that relate to their brands.

From 3 February domains names will be available to anyone at a premium, then on March 24 2009 names will be open to anyone.