Cell Phones: .mobi Domain

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
has approved the ".mobi" domain suffix for the exclusive use of cell phone
users accessing the Internet. This is the 17th top level domain approved
by ICANN. They have, however, indicated their doubt that .mobi websites
will be available before 2006. In any case this will certainly pave the way
for widespread use of the Web by cell phone users.

There are 1.8 billion mobile users in the world but only 12 to 14 percent
have ever used the Web from their phones. Websites using the .mobi
domain suffix for the exclusive use of cell phone users are expected to be
a stopgap solution to fill the divide between today's small-memory mobile
phones and future devices with more robust memory and processors.

A joint venture of mobile technology companies, mTLD (Mobile Top Level
Domain), expects to start issuing Internet .mobi domain names in the 1st
half of next year. It has been contracted to provide the registry service for
.mobi for the next ten years. The company, which was formed by
Microsoft, Nokia, the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
Association, Vodafone Group PLC and other heavy hitters, has completed
a contract with the ICANN that formalized the creation of the .mobi
domain. This initiative is also aimed at creating opportunities for content
providers, ISVs and ASPs to extend Internet-based services to their
customers.