{"id":1007,"date":"2010-08-12T21:48:18","date_gmt":"2010-08-13T01:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/?p=1007"},"modified":"2010-08-12T22:05:52","modified_gmt":"2010-08-13T02:05:52","slug":"tel-does-not-compute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/","title":{"rendered":".TEL does not compute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Data is far from insufficient, but still, the equation does not compute.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I’ve written many times before, numbers cannot be disputed. And the numbers about .tel are saying that there is zero growth in that TLD.<\/p>\n

While 200k .tel domains were registered between launch to mid-summer of last year, the remainder of the year and a half that dot tel has been around hasn’t been impressive at all.<\/p>\n

In August 2009 TelNIC achieved 200k .tel registrations, and by December 30k more had been added. From then on, .tel reached its peak in March of this year – oddly, right before the one year registrations were about to be evaluated on the “drop or not” scale.<\/p>\n

It’s been downhill since, with numbers remaining flat around the 240k .tel registrations, despite the introduction of IDN .tel domains.<\/p>\n

I read at Domain Name Wire<\/strong><\/a> yesterday, that TelNIC will be introducing single letter and two letter .tel domains, apparently in an attempt to add some cashflow via auction or direct sales.<\/p>\n

Considering how there are 676 2-letter combinations, TelNIC would probably not release the roughly 240 ISO 3166-1<\/strong><\/a> two-letter combinations; perhaps, as a last resort to add further funds to the bank. Who knows, one day we might see .fr.tel<\/strong> to be promoted as the French revolutionary TLD that would compete against .fr<\/p>\n

The biggest failure of .tel has been its restrictive DNS layer and inability to offer – at least, as an option<\/em> – the ability to turn that layer off and utilize proper DNS records. That, *might* have driven .tel sales up. But let’s not forget .tel was also promoted as a quick way to interact socially, by giving for example .tel URLs to the hot chick you met at the bar instead of a phone number. Unfortunately, the attempt to offer .tel domains to MySpace users<\/strong><\/a> wasn’t met with much excitement; once again, TelNIC bid on the wrong horse: who has time for MySpace, when everyone is using Facebook.<\/p>\n

Overall, I mostly feel sorry for the few dozen outspoken fans of .tel<\/strong> who truly believed in its initial launch and hoped TelNIC would improve<\/strong> on the functionality and manageability of the .tel domains. As this hasn’t happened yet, the timing of releasing the single and two letter .tel domains appears to be simply for financial reasons.<\/p>\n

Some recommended reading from the past:<\/p>\n

Fool\u2019s gold: The .tel hype<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fool\u2019s gold Part 2: What the .tel FAQ means<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Fool\u2019s gold Part 3: It\u2019s a .mad .mad .tel world<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Fool\u2019s gold Part 4: .tel it like it is<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Fool\u2019s gold Part 5: The onslaught of the zombie TLD<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Data is far from insufficient, but still, the equation does not compute. As I’ve written many times before, numbers cannot be disputed. And the numbers about .tel are saying that there is zero growth in that TLD. While 200k .tel domains were registered between launch to mid-summer of last year, the remainder of the year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,3],"tags":[196,197,573],"class_list":["post-1007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-domains","tag-tel","tag-telnic","tag-the-final-frontier","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n.TEL does not compute - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\".TEL does not compute - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Data is far from insufficient, but still, the equation does not compute. As I’ve written many times before, numbers cannot be disputed. And the numbers about .tel are saying that there is zero growth in that TLD. While 200k .tel domains were registered between launch to mid-summer of last year, the remainder of the year […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-13T01:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-08-13T02:05:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Theo Develegas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Theo Develegas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Theo Develegas\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe\"},\"headline\":\".TEL does not compute\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-13T01:48:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-13T02:05:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":445,\"commentCount\":2,\"keywords\":[\".tel\",\".telnic\",\"the final frontier\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Domains\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/\",\"name\":\".TEL does not compute - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-13T01:48:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-13T02:05:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/tel-does-not-compute\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\".TEL does not compute\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe\",\"name\":\"Theo Develegas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Theo Develegas\"},\"description\":\"Theo Develegas - News and opinions on domain name investing, brand development, design, and the occasional rant or two about life's challenges. Founder of Acroplex LLC.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/acroplex\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":".TEL does not compute - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":".TEL does not compute - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","og_description":"Data is far from insufficient, but still, the equation does not compute. As I’ve written many times before, numbers cannot be disputed. And the numbers about .tel are saying that there is zero growth in that TLD. While 200k .tel domains were registered between launch to mid-summer of last year, the remainder of the year […]","og_url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/","og_site_name":"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","article_published_time":"2010-08-13T01:48:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-08-13T02:05:52+00:00","author":"Theo Develegas","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Theo Develegas","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/"},"author":{"name":"Theo Develegas","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe"},"headline":".TEL does not compute","datePublished":"2010-08-13T01:48:18+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-13T02:05:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/"},"wordCount":445,"commentCount":2,"keywords":[".tel",".telnic","the final frontier"],"articleSection":["Business","Domains"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/","url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/","name":".TEL does not compute - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-13T01:48:18+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-13T02:05:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/tel-does-not-compute\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":".TEL does not compute"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/","name":"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe","name":"Theo Develegas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Theo Develegas"},"description":"Theo Develegas - News and opinions on domain name investing, brand development, design, and the occasional rant or two about life's challenges. Founder of Acroplex LLC.","sameAs":["https:\/\/acro.net","https:\/\/x.com\/acroplex"],"url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}