The long lost .Tel ROADMAP uncovered

The .Tel Roadmap was a great idea - if you're developing and/or investing in any new internet idea it makes a lot of sense to know what's coming down the line.

Unfortunately the Roadmap was removed by Telnic almost 12 months ago on 1 July 2011 - and though we all expected it was just a temporary removal whilst re-scheduling took place it turned out to a permanent loss.

For the record here's what Telnic scheduled for delivery in Q2 2011 i.e. 1 April - 30 June 2011.

1. Google Adsense for mobiles - Rendering adverts on smartphone devices

2. Customization of .tel pages - Simpler and more diverse template options for your unique .tel feel

3. Free calls - Easy "call me for free" button on .tel pages for VoIP service integration

4. Control panel redesign - More intuitive control panel with easier access to frequently used tasks

5. Folder management - Easier navigation and management of folders within the control panel

6. TelAds and vouchers - Managing advertisements within the control panel, including image adverts

7. Privacy and friending - Much simplified model for private data sharing

8. Profiles - Improved management of profiles for quickly switching between preset views of your .tel

AFAIK - nearly 12 months after the deadline date - only the first item has been delivered !

Mike Seaton.

Yes, the disappearance of the roadmap was (AND STILL IS) a big loss!

When Telnic decided to remove it - even WITHOUT any announcement (!) - it was the first sign Telnic has changed its business strategy from active to defensive.

A lot of activities has been canceled or reduced after this as well.

With the introduction of Telnames it has become clear the staff was concentrating on a different project, but it's not good to let the community members and the supporters in the dark.

The success of .tel depends on the future expectations and not on the current development status.
Therefore the roadmap (and the delivery of the included plans) is essential!

One community member had the idea to publish the following .tel:

Roadmap.tel

Hello Mike,

Nice to meet you here again!

I know we didn't share always the same opinion, but we still stand on the same side.

The topics from the roadmap are still very important, but this is my personal highlight:

mikeseaton wrote:
7. Privacy and friending - Much simplified model for private data sharing

As soon Facebook starts struggling, .tel needs to take over the potential for a social networking application with integrated data protection, because there is a high demand for such a solution which doesn't exist until today.

Especially since all data at Facebook are not secure, it can't be used by companies for its employees and by all people who care about privacy protection, neither.

.tel could open a door for a complete new internet service. But how this can happen with TelFriends as a premature application?

Hi Jens,

My priorities from the Roadmap would be

mikeseaton wrote:2. Customization of .tel pages - Simpler and more diverse template options for your unique .tel feel

6. TelAds and vouchers - Managing advertisements within the control panel, including image adverts

But it's all pretty irrelevant, since it's patently clear that the last 12 months or so have been spent by Telnic staff working on the Telnames web site, video/image-based template, and revised CTH.

I personally don't think the 3 new design-winning templates will be released now (item 2 above) or the Telnic CTH will be modified to provide item 6 either - though many on the Telnic forum still seem to think they are going to appear very soon.

!t's obvious to me what's happening with the Telnames & Telnic company situation - with the same CEO, CFO, CMO, offices & phone number - I'm sure you've worked out where this is heading as well !

I'm not sure how registrars such as Name.com will feel when they discover the .tel they are selling is substantially different from the very much enhanced (but lacking subdomains) .tel product Telnic/Telnames are making available via a direct sell.

This crazy situation needs to be resolved BEFORE any marketing push (recently mentioned by Ian Bowen-Morris) takes place - how on earth can you sell a new concept to "Joe Public" without a single coherent marketing message.

My guess is that the Telnames single page template will end up being the only game in town - with all the hassles of TelHosting (registrars seem to have constant CTH problems following transfer/expired domain purchases) being handled by Telnames for a small annual fee per domain.

If this proves true it will be a great shame for all the directory builders on the Telnic forum - but who said life is fair !

What I don't want to happen is just more of the same drifting along - with 100's, maybe 1000+ new gTLDs being launched soon there is going to be a lot of competition for domain investors dollars and software developers time.

It's time for Telnic/Telnames to put their cards on the table, clarify whether the 3 new design-winning templates really will be launched after the year's delay, and get the enthusiasm of the remaining .tel supporters on-board.

And of course start that worldwide affiliate scheme (that could get 1000's of sites promoting .tel) via CJ.com and/or TradeDoubler.com.

Mike Seaton.

Mike
Unfortunately I believe you are correct. It is very tough to not be angry since I have been holding onto my geo .tels with the promise of new templates and the assumption that the subdomains would always be there.

gobigcity wrote:... the assumption that the subdomains would always be there.

I can only guess, but I don't believe Telnic ever planned to cancel subdomains.

In addition after Telnames sold only roughly 400 new .tel domains, the 274.000 .tel domains at other registrars seem to be more important.

Here one screenshot from Telnic's website with the planning for Q1 and Q2 2011:

When it was planned already, how it is possible these features are still not delivered?

ixida wrote:When it was planned already, how it is possible these features are still not delivered?

Since Telnic isn't speaking about this issue we can only speculate about it, but it's for sure in 2011 they have reduced their effort significant.

In addition they refuse to answer all questions relating to this matter.

The reasons are unknown, but it can't be cash-flow problems. More likely Telnic want to try other ways for promoting their product to rebuild their strategy after.

ixida wrote:When it was planned already, how it is possible these features are still not delivered?

The development of the http://www.Telnames.com web site and the http://YourBusiness.tel template/CTH/CP would appear to be the reason why !

http://MikeSeaton.tel

With all the concern about the Telnames price rise from £14.95 to £24.95 (with many now sticking with Telnic .tels, or deciding to transfer away from Telnames .tels) will there will be an increased demand for the still outstanding Roadmap features to be delivered ?

http://MikeSeaton.tel

mikeseaton wrote:With all the concern about the Telnames price rise from £14.95 to £24.95 (with many now sticking with Telnic .tels, or deciding to transfer away from Telnames .tels) will there will be an increased demand for the still outstanding Roadmap features to be delivered ?

http://MikeSeaton.tel

The opposite will be the case, because Telnic is interested in increasing the registration numbers for Telnames and not for the registrars connected to Telnic.
Telnic will try to prevent that the registrars can provide a competitive product, because with Telnames they can earn much higher registration fees than with Telnic.

Sunrise wrote:

mikeseaton wrote:With all the concern about the Telnames price rise from £14.95 to £24.95 (with many now sticking with Telnic .tels, or deciding to transfer away from Telnames .tels) will there will be an increased demand for the still outstanding Roadmap features to be delivered ?

The opposite will be the case, because Telnic is interested in increasing the registration numbers for Telnames and not for the registrars connected to Telnic.
Telnic will try to prevent that the registrars can provide a competitive product, because with Telnames they can earn much higher registration fees than with Telnic.

@Sunrise

With many forum members now abandoning their proposed transfer of Telnic .tels to Telnames (I have cancelled plans to transfer up to 500) following the Telnames price rise of nearly 67%, I do predict there will be an increase in demand for the still outstanding Roadmap items that were due by 30 June 2011 to be finally delivered !

But I think you are right, the demand will NOT be met, since the Telnic/Telnames organisation will not want to spend time and resources encouraging the sale of a product at approx $10 via Telnic registrars when they believe they could get approx $40 paid direct to themselves at Telnames !

So it really looks like it will be a case of demand from Telnic .tel customers not being satisfied - it remains to be seen what happens then ?

http://MikeSeaton.tel

Do we have to accept that .tel won't be developed anymore until Telnic gets support from a strong partner?