CircleID

Telnic's proposal, as it stands, seems so ridiculously lame that I can't help but wonder whether it's a ruse. Their own FAQ describes the purpose and nature of ".tel" in the following terms.

What will .Tel do?
The Internet-Communications sTLD, .Tel, will facilitate and standardize the way users access and search Internet-Communications services, content, and contact information.

How will people access .Tel?
The .Tel sTLD will be accessed exactly the way current TLDs are accessed. An end user will simply enter the domain name followed by the .tel. e.g., www.hertz.tel.

Sheer genius. The owner of hertz.com will also purchase hertz.tel, and the home page at www.hertz.tel will be the "contact us" page from www.hertz.com.

They've got to be kidding, surely? If it weren't such a pointless concept, it would be a good way to create another TLD landrush debacle as the various owners of X.com, X.net, X.org and X-dot-country-code all make a dive for X.tel.

The obvious use for ".tel" (and I suspect the one that it would be re-purposed into if it were approved) is the moral equivalent of ".travel" or ".museum" for telcos ("sing.tel"), telco equipment providers ("nor.tel"), and service resellers.