The history of .tel

29/04/1998: Incorporation of Telnic
30/05/2006: .TEL registry agreement with ICANN
03/12/2008: Sunrise of .TEL domains
03/02/2009: Landrush of .TEL domains
24/03/2009: General availability of .TEL domains
15/06/2010: Launch IDN of .TEL domains
16/12/2010: Incorporation of Telnames
14/06/2011: General availability of short (two-character) and numeric-only .TEL domains
01/07/2011: Withdrawal of Telnic's roadmap
25/04/2012: Launch Telnames
15/10/2013: Availability of all-numeric .TEL domain strings of eight digits or longer
30/05/2016: Expiration of .TEL registry agreement with ICANN

@di7 - Nice summary - just one point though - the last line should read:

30/05/2016: Expiration of Telnic's .TEL registry agreement with ICANN

My guess is that IF the .tel extension has enough momentum to continue after 30/05/2016 it will be an organisation like Afilias that takes over - though for nothing like the $35,000,000 investors gave Telnic initially !

http://MikeSeaton.tel

The investors must be on the brink of self-immolation.

di7 wrote:29/04/1998: Incorporation of Telnic
...
25/04/2012: Launch Telnames

It took 14 years for Telnic to publish a first usable version of tel. Now it'll take probably 14 more years before this version will be developed to the extent that it's also suitable for the market. In the event that the time stops, Telnic could generate significant interest around the year 2026 for the first time. The only, surely very small danger is that by then the internet has changed again, because competitors take no account of Telnic's revolutionary pace of work in slow motion. I feel sorry for all people hoping something could happen faster with tel.

Crazy wrote:Telnic could generate significant interest around the year 2026 for the first time.

If the management at Telnic would be exchanged, it could happen faster.

Crazy wrote:

di7 wrote:29/04/1998: Incorporation of Telnic
...
25/04/2012: Launch Telnames

It took 14 years for Telnic to publish a first usable version of tel ... I feel sorry for all people hoping something could happen faster with tel.

True. If only they would take 14 weeks to put together a Telnames Directory, they might have a chance at real success.