.TEL for Domainers
Pricing for Domainers
Webnames offers some of the most competitive .TEL pricing on domainer accounts and a wide range of payment options including invoicing.
Pricing is volume related and quickly drops below $15 for General Availability, with price points in the $10-12 range as volumes increase. Landrush pricing is similarly structured with prices quickly dropping below $300 (below $100/year).
Pricing and payment methods are set for domainers on an account by account basis, based on planned volumes. Please contact us at 1-866-221-7878 ext 182 or sales@webnames.ca to set up your volume pricing discounts.
About Webnames
Webnames is an accredited ICANN registrar originally known mainly for its history with the .ca domain and its relationships with major corporations and large resellers because of its high reliability, large domain portfolio tools and managed services.
Webnames continues to be the registrar of record for some of the best known companies and web destinations (particularly in the .ca world) including Google, Amazon, Yahoo and MSN, but has broadened its focus in recent years to better meet the needs of domainers.
Our clients have portfolios of many thousand domains and enjoy highly competitive negotiated rates and we are pleased include many active, high volume domainers amongst our customers.
About the .TEL Domain
There has been a lot of discussion about .TEL in press and online media. Much of this stems from the fact that the .TEL doesn't have the characteristics of a traditional domain name.
It's a way to pass contact information attached to a simple name that can be easily read by any internet enabled device or cell phone. In many respects it is more analogous to a super-telephone number than it is a domain name.
We believe that key markets are likely to be smart phone users and businesses wishing to gain competitive advantage. We also believe that with 150 million smart phones sold annually, there are plausible scenarios under which .TEL could surpass .COM (75 million domains) as the dominant domain, although this would play out over many years.
So what does this mean for domainers and what are the opportunities for monetization? Apart from the potential aftermarket value in premium names, the case for monetization of .TEL names is less clear than for traditional domain extensions.
One of the main reasons for this is that the browser interface for a .TEL is generic and looks the same for all .TEL names. Only the data is different. The A record for a .TEL must point to an authorized TelHosting provider (currently there is only Telnic, but anyone can become an accredited provider). .TEL names viewed in a browser cannot currently display PPC ads and there is no indication that this will change in the future.
Despite the different model, many domainers are participating in .TEL, especially with respect to premium names. Sunrise has been strong for trademark holders and pre-bookings for Landrush and GA are outperforming recent domain launches at many registrars.
However domainers focused purely on the PPC model may want to take a wait and see approach to .TEL. Telnic, the Sponsoring Organization for .TEL have proposed several possible monetization opportunities (see below), including the development of the .TEL property. Frank Schilling isn't convinced. Rick Latona admires the technology but says the jury is still out.
.TEL is definitely a new kind of domain and unlike any extension to date. It represents a departure from established methods of monetization and carries with it risks, but also the potential for new opportunities, for those able to identify and capitalize on them.
Telnic will be attending DomainFest Global in January, Domainer Mardi Gras in February and ICANN 34 in March.
If you plan to register .TEL's and would like preferred pricing and no risk pre-booking, or you would like to discuss .TEL further, please contact us at 1-866-221-7878 ext 182 or e-mail sales@webnames.ca
Domainer Blog Articles
Monetizing .TEL
Other Resources
