For those of you looking to register your .tel domains soon, here's a small price comparison I made between EuroDNS and Webnames.ca which are probably the 2 best places you can get .tel domains moving forward.

But first, let me tell you that similar to other domain extension launchings, the .tel will be in the same Sunrise-Landrush-General Registration format. The sunrise period is for trademark owners only. Landrush period is the all important first-come first-served basis while the General Registration period is when registration would be open to everybody.

Prices are a little stiff for these .tel domains but there would be no doubt that they will be very good domain investments especially those short generic ones and some of them famous and general terms.

Here's my price comparison:

Sunrise Period (minimum 3 years initial registration) starting December 3, 2008
EuroDNS - US$374
Webnames.ca - US$399

Landrush Period (minimum 3 years initial registration) starts February 3, 2009
EuroDNS - US$445
Webnames.ca - US$375

General Registration (minimum 1 year initial registration) starts March 24, 2009
EuroDNS - US$23
Webnames.ca - US$19.99

If you've got a trademark, pre-register .tel with EuroDNS now and trust me you would be doing yourself a favor by avoiding domain squatters to do it for you and take advantage of your missed opportunity.

In the middle of this month, itwire.com published a small article about the possibilities for the new .tel domains.

Telnic, the company behind the .tel top level domain launching in December and billed as "a new communications 'hub' for individuals and businesses that...will enable secure sharing of contact information and true personalisation of online services" is releasing beta versions of applications for BlackBerries, iPhones and Window -based PCs that will enable address books to be dynamically updated with information stored in a .tel owner's domain.

".tel owners will now be able to experience total control over the services they subscribe to, having an online identity under their own domain name which they own, and which acts as a hub where all kinds of services and people can interact with them, securely and efficiently.

He claimed that, "With the new services that developers can deliver for customers, the bad old days of manually updating contact information and the outdated and fragmented information available within yellow page directories online will finally be a thing of the past."
Don't be surprised when your new phones come with a built-in .tel domain application next year!

.Tel domain registrations are available through the following registrars:

1. Network Solutions

2. Domainit.com

3. EuroDNS

4. Easy Space

5. Moniker.com

Simple and common first names will definitely be the first to go soon as the dot tel domains are launched in the next few months. Even right now, some may have already pre-registered .tel domains which are considered premium because they can easily be recalled. Think in the lines of mary.tel, or mike.tel and bob.tel. If you by any chance have any of those names, you might have just missed your chance.

All's not lost though. EuroDNS.com is still accepting pre-registration for everybody on the planet. Anybody can apply and pre-register their dot tel domains on a first-come first served basis. Even if you don't actually own the name, registering commonfirstname.tel can be one of the better domain investments around because there will always be an available buyer.

Other registration options for .tel domains are:

1. Network Solutions

2. Domainit.com

3. Easy Space

4. Moniker.com

PRweb.com recently released a simple and yet imformative summary of .tel domains pre-registration. Dot tel domains are predicted to be one of the most useful domains not just for website owners but also professionals and ordinary people by acting as their digital business card accessible anywhere internet-connected devices are available.

The .tel enables the user to store, update and publish contact information, web links and keywords directly on the Internet under a unique domain name. Simple, fast and accessible from any device, .tel provides a new internet standard for businesses and individuals to take full control over how and where people reach them. The .tel enables global discoverability in the first 'live', next-generation contacts directory, with keywords enhancing search engine optimization.

Starting today, EuroDNS offers the chance to submit a request for any .TEL domain name for the three upcoming launch phases of the extension.

Xavier Buck, CEO of EuroDNS explains, "The Sunrise, Premium Landrush and Go Live phases for .TEL are now open for pre-registration at EuroDNS. Since the Registry will handle domain name applications on a first-come, first-served basis in each category, interested parties are strongly encouraged to submit their requests now".

Get ready for the Sunrise phase. "If you are a trademark owner, now is your chance to pre-register the .TEL domain name corresponding to your trademark. From the 3rd December onwards your application will then be subjected to validation from Deloitte". The sunrise is handled on a first-come, first-served basis and registrations will carry a minimum three year term at a set up price of 290 Euros, followed by an extra 18 Euros each year.

EuroDNS customers can also choose to pre-register for the Premium Landrush phase which lasts from the 3rd February until the 23rd March. This is a great opportunity to be the first to submit high quality premium domain names such as Generic Premium names. Contrary to other Registries, no auction process is involved and the fee is only 115 Euros per year (three years minimum).

The Go Live period is also accessible to pre-registrations with EuroDNS and based on the first-come, first-served method. It carries a one year minimum term for 18 Euros. Application will be sent to the Registry on the 24th March 2009.

All .Tel names pre-registered with EuroDNS that are not attributed during the Premium Landrush and Go Live phases will be re-credited to the applicants, except for the Sunrise period, for which the set-up fees always apply.

Xavier adds, "While the .TEL isn't like any other TLD and doesn't look like a standard website, it is essentially focused on communications and opens up new markets and opportunities. It is a revolution in the way people and companies will use the Internet and interact with each other and we are quite proud to offer our customers the possibility to enjoy it".

Other registrars that offer .tel domains are:

1. Network Solutions

2. Domainit.com

3. Easy Space

4. Moniker.com

Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun writes a cool story below about the new .tel domains which will launch in the next few months.

Asking a prospective date for a phone number is so last century. Starting soon, it will be "What's your dot-tel?" There's a new online gold rush gathering momentum as pre-registration ramps up for the Internet's new ".tel" domain that lets individuals, companies and organizations store all their contact information in a virtual phone book for life. Even though their phones numbers, their e-mail or location may change, their .tel remains the same. It can be updated and customized by the user so they can be found by anyone who knows their .tel name.

Or not, as the case may be since the .tel service also lets users decide how much contact information they want to share and whom they want to share it with. It can include everything from a home or office phone number, to a mobile phone, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter or any of the increasing number of ways people choose to stay in touch. In a customized twist on the old practice of an unlisted phone number, just like Facebook you can choose to share information with friends, keeping it hidden from others. Or you can share certain contact info with acquaintances and clients, saving your secret home cellphone number for only close friends and family. For people you really don't want to hear from or pesky telemarketers, you can send them on a wild goose chase by giving them bogus contact information. You can also map your location, a plus for businesses that can direct customers straight to their door with nothing more than a .tel name. "At a fairly straightforward level, it is a way for you to give someone your contact information just by giving them your .tel name," said John Demco, co-found and director of Webnames.ca and the man known as the godfather of .CA for his work in creating the Internet's .ca country code top-level domain for Canada.

"If you gave me your .tel name, I would be able to put that into my cellphone and I'd be able to contact you automatically with whatever contact information you have put with that." The virtual contact link, available for businesses starting in December and for individuals from Feb. 3, opens up a whole new subdivision of lucrative cyberspace real estate. Just as .com domain names were snapped up and resold at huge profits, there is an expectation that companies that are slow to put a cyberlock on their .tel address may find themselves paying a premium to someone who has snapped it up.

The registration is staggered into three stages to forestall some of the rush to stake claims and early birds who want to protect their contact identities will pay a premium to do so. Would be .tel holders must register their .tel name with a registrar like WebNames.ca, which just started pre-booking a few days ago and already has more than 1,000 registrants pre-booked. In a first-come, first served process, pre-booking is on for the three phases of the .tel rollout which include: In Sunrise, the phase open to trademark holders and owners at a premium price of $399 US and runs from Dec. 3, 2008 to Feb. 3, 2009. The premium price includes a three-year registration of the .tel name. In Landrush, open registration runs from Feb. 3 to March 24, 2009 at a cost of $375 US that includes a three-year registration of the name.

In General, open registration starts March 24 and costs $19.99 US, which includes a one-year registration of the name. The cheapest option but by March 24, the name you want -- particularly if it is a company name or a fairly common individual's name -- may be long gone.

Several popular websites offer dot-tel domains. It's just a matter of preference where to get them. Here's a few below:

1. Network Solutions

2. Domainit.com

3. EuroDNS

4. Easy Space

5. Moniker.com