.tel domain sales begin today

TODAY, .tel domain names go up for sale.

The domain is designed to allow companies or individuals to display contact details such as phone numbers, email addresses or even GPS data.

The new domain encourages the owners of .tel domains to cough up the details of how they can be contacted. Unless most of the rest of the Interwibble, where the bigger teh copany the less likely you are to be able to contact them.

Kash Mahdavi, head of Telnic which runs the .tel registry told the BBC, "All other top level domains like .com use the net's domain name system in the same way, they all store IP address and they are all about websites."

The domain is designed to work on the web but may have a bigger future on handheld devices.

The owners of these .tel domains can give up as little or as much information as they want – the system will also feature a “friending mechanism” which will allow close friends to access more personal contact information.

Today marks the "sunrise" phase of .tel, which is the first of three stages. The sunrise stage is for trademark owners to get domains related to their brands.

The second phase will begin on 3 February next year - the "landrush" phase will be open to anyone however domains will be on sale at a premium.

The final phase will begin on 24 March when the domain will be open to everyone.

"Businesses will need to be aware of the potential uses of .tel and how it can work for them," said Mr Kingsland, director of communications for Nominet.

Mahdavi would not reveal the final price for a .tel domain but hinted that it would be similar to the price of other domains. µ

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