dotMobi to Sell First Set of Premium Domain Names

October 17, 2006; 01:27 AM

dotMobi, the official worldwide registry for the .mobi domain, has announced the date for its first auction of premium names. The first set of 10 .mobi domain names will be made available via auction at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East domain conference in Hollywood, Florida, on October 27, 2006. The 10 .mobi domains to be auctioned are "celebs," "cheaptickets," "flowers," "fun," "gossip," "hot," "laugh," "party," "stockquotes" and "wow."

The dotMobi Premium Names list is a compilation of commonly used words and phrases which dotMobi has set aside for equitable allocation as an alternate to the traditional "first come, first serve" procedure. These names will be distributed in batches through 2008 using both auction and Request for Tender (RFT) processes.

Sites built using the .mobi domain make accessing the Internet on a mobile device faster, less expensive and more reliable by offering content tailored for mobile phones. More than 150,000 .mobi domains have been registered since General Registration commenced on October 11, 2006.

"Given the strong demand for .mobi domain names, bidding at this initial auction will most likely be exciting," said Neil Edwards, CEO of dotMobi. "We anticipate that the winning bidders of these Premium Name sites will develop relevant and useful content for mobile Internet consumers."

Information on the initial names for the Request for Tender (RFT) process is planned to be released on November 6. The list of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) accredited registrars for dotMobi domain names can be found at: dotmobi.mobi/registrar.

For more information on .mobi domains and how to register .mobi domains, visit dotmobi.mobi. Visit the dotMobi blog at pc.blog.mobi.

For more information about T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East, see www.targetedtraffic.com.

About dotMobi

dotMobi (the informal name of mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.), a joint venture company based in Dublin, Ireland with offices in Washington, D.C., is leading the development of Internet usage from mobile phones by switching on the .mobi domain name.

Unique among domain name providers, dotMobi ensures that services and sites developed around .mobi are optimized for use by mobile devices. On-the-go consumers can have confidence that the Internet site or service will work from their mobile device when using the .mobi address.

dotMobi is backed by leading mobile operators, network and device manufacturers, and Internet content providers, including Ericsson, GSM Association, Hutchison 3, Microsoft, Nokia, Orascom Telecom, Samsung Electronics, Syniverse, T-Mobile, Telefonica Moviles, TIM and Vodafone. dotMobi is also a sponsor of W3C's Mobile Web Initiative.

Vance Hedderel, dotMobi (mobile Top Level Domain, Ltd.) +1-703-485-5563, [email protected] Tara Yingst / Danielle Siemon, A&R Edelman Public Relations +1-650-762-2942 / 2947, [email protected] / [email protected]