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VoIP operators reportedly are setting their sites on new Internet domain that’s designed to provide as a secure address that users can access from any Web-ready device.

 

Officials with London-based registry operator Telnic Limited – following a call for trademark owners to apply for their names before .tel domain names become available for purchase on Feb. 3 – say a number of telecom companies are securing their brands and looking into the new domain as a platform for value-added services.

 

According to Khashayar Mahdavi, chief executive officer of Telnic, fixed-line, mobile and VoIP companies, including Orange, Vodafone, Hutchison 3G, T-Mobile, Sprint, Virgin Mobile and Skype all secured their brands.

 

“We’d like to thank those telecommunications providers who’ve registered their brands for understanding that .tel is not just another top level domain but that instead it provides an innovative and neutral platform for service interoperability,” Mahdavi said. “Several operators, especially those concerned with VoIP, are moving to become ICANN-accredited registrars in order to use this platform to deliver value-added services to their customers.”

 

ICANN, short for the “Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, gave Telnic the right to act as registry operator.

 

As Telnic’s communications director, Justin Hayward told TMCnet in an interview, the so-called “Landrush” period that starts Feb. 3 is open to anyone, on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

“Everyone stands an equal chance and will pay roughly the same price for all domains rather than seeing only the richest being able to afford the best names,” Hayward, pictured left, told TMCnet. “So at Landrush, we anticipate that there will be a lot of interest.”

 

So far, so good.

 

Michal Lev-Ram of CNN/Fortune calls the domain “The Google (News - Alert) of online phone books,” and Danielle Belopotosky of the New York Times said, “The new domain, which stores and encrypts contact information directly into the Domain Name System, has the potential to become a phone book for the Internet.”

 

As Belopotosky notes, .tel is poised to distinguish itself by offering individuals and businesses a chance to store all of their contact information, keywords and location records directly in the domain name system without the need for a Web site.

 

In what’s being hailed as a testament to the .tel domain’s security, the New York Police Department is among the entities that’s purchased its trademark-protected name.

 

According to Mahdavi, such public service organizations have a large number of services, all with different contact points.

 

“With a .tel domain, the ability to organize all services in an easy-to-navigate way means that information is delivered quickly and easily, taking the stress out of finding the right information. Now, New York’s finest will be just a click away.”