New .tel Internet suffix: As if things weren’t complicated enough already

The land rush is on for the new .tel domain. The question is, why?
The U.K.-based firm Telnic is hoping to create a “phone book for the Internet” with the new top-level domain, providing a place where companies can join a global directory and allow users to search for contact information. There’s no shortage of hype behind the effort – which is being billed as “the largest Web launch ever” and “the biggest innovation since .com” – and the cyber-suffix is backed by celebrities such as J.K. Rowling and Bono.
Telnic has raised at least $35 million in funding for .tel, which became available to the public this week. A mere $350 will buy you the .tel URL of your choice for three years – provided it’s available – and the sites will be automatically formatted to display “on any device that accesses them.”
The concept behind .tel is marginally compelling. There’s a chance – I suppose – that the movement could reach critical mass, and that a broad swath of consumers may someday check a .tel domain before searching the entire Web for contact information. And the thing could serve as kind of an aggregator for social networking sites – a role Plaxo and others are currently trying to fill – providing a one-stop shop where profiles and updates are posted from a variety of online destinations.
But a new top-level domain is a solution in search of a problem. In the past few years, have you ever not been able to find information on a business or an individual who wants to be found? A quick Google search almost always delivers the contact information I’m looking for, and Facebook and LinkedIn profiles generally provide suitable content info.
Indeed, most anyone who isn’t reachable probably doesn’t want to be reachable, so they have no use for a .tel site. The world needs an online directory like President Barack Obama needs another tax-challenged cabinet-level appointee.
And though Telnic’s “any device” strategy is a noble one, the problems users run into on the wireless Web are already being addressed – if slowly. Online developers are building multiple versions of the same site and using redirection technology to deliver users to the most appropriate destination. Carriers and handset manufacturers are deploying transcoding technology that formats traditional Web content for the smaller screens of mobile phones.
The .tel movement is similar to mLTD’s .mobi, which for years has been touted as the solution in bringing the Web to mobile. The Ireland-based company has made progress – and plenty of money – selling the top-level domain to companies targeting users on the mobile Internet, and – to be fair – has helped create important guidelines and standards for wireless Web sites.
But while companies continue to buy .mobi domains, many – if not most – redirect users to other URLs that inserts the letter “m,” for instance, or the word “wap” into the address. Not only do consumers not care, the overwhelming number of them are unaware that .mobi even exists. And one of mTLD’s key selling points is creating a top-level domain that users know is mobile-friendly.
Both Telnic and mTLD have built impressive bank accounts, and the new .tel may sell as well, or better, than .mobi. But both suffixes are unknown to consumers, and making users aware of them will only serve to confuse them as the Internet collides with mobile.