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dotMobi, the official worldwide registry for the .mobi domain, this week launched the first round of its Request for Proposals (RFP) process for four highly anticipated premium .mobi domain names: "news.mobi," "ringtones.mobi," "sports.mobi" and "weather.mobi."

dotMobi will review all submitted proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria in the dotMobi RFP application form and expects to announce winning proposals in January 2007. Each RFP submission will be evaluated on the applicant's business and technical capability, with an emphasis on the proposed content for the Web site relating to the domain name. Sites are expected to go live by February 2007.

The application form is available; applications are due no later than December 18, 2006.

The dotMobi Premium Names list is a compilation of commonly used words and phrases which dotMobi has set aside for equitable allocation as an alternate to the traditional "first come, first serve" procedure. These names will be distributed in batches through 2008 using both RFP and auction processes.

Sites built using the .mobi domain make accessing the Internet on a mobile device faster, less expensive and more reliable by offering content tailored for mobile phones. More than 240,000 .mobi domains have been registered since General Registration commenced on October 11, 2006.

"Making names available via an RFP process demonstrates that dotMobi is committed to quality mobile Internet content by giving all potential content providers a chance to present their ideas," said Neil Edwards, CEO of dotMobi. "We know that quality content will be the primary driver of mobile Internet use and we're excited to offer an innovative way to match the best content providers to the domain names representative of the most popular categories for mobile Internet use."

For more information on .mobi domains and how to register .mobi domains, visit http://dotmobi.mobi. Visit the dotMobi blog at http://blog.mobi.

Headquartered in Dublin, dotMobi - a wholly owned subsidiary of Afilias Limited - is a worldwide leader in enabling the development & discovery of quality mobile content through innovative services, in turn helping businesses and individuals reach the world's billions of mobile phone users. dotMobi spurs mobile industry innovation by giving content providers the tools they need to ensure the Web will work on mobile phones with speed, accuracy and relevant content. (Learn More)

Related topics: DNS, Domain Names, Registry Services, Mobile, Top-Level Domains