Mobile Industry Leaders Unite to Create Mobile Top-Level Domain (TLD)

Leading companies from the mobile industry have formed a joint venture to create a mobile Top-Level Domain (TLD), which would be a key step in bridging the world of mobility and the Internet. The initiative aims to simplify the Internet experience for mobile subscribers and increase the ease of use and speed of delivery of mobile Internet services. Participating companies include Microsoft, Nokia, Vodafone, 3, GSM Association, HP, Orange, Samsung Electronics, and Sun Microsystems, among others.

Key Takeaways:

• The mobile TLD would be a key step in bridging the world of mobility and the Internet, enabling efficient application and network services and reliability for mobile customers and service providers.
• The joint venture aims to manage the distribution of the new mobile TLD names, with the goal of simplifying the Internet experience for mobile subscribers and increasing the ease of use and speed of delivery of mobile Internet services.
• The participating companies represent software developers, device manufacturers, network operators, infrastructure providers, and content providers, and will work together to create a mobile TLD that benefits the entire value chain.
• Microsoft is proud to partner with luminaries from across industries on creating a mobile Top Level Domain to the benefit of the entire value chain, and most importantly, mobile customers.
• The creation of a mobile Top-Level Domain would allow consumers to access the Internet in very different mobility scenarios, whether the access is provided by a mobile operator, Internet service provider, or various gateway devices at home or enterprise.
• The wide industry participation highlights the shared objective of offering seamless global access and interoperability of mobile services and applications.
• Establishing a mobile TLD is an exciting development for the entire mobile industry, aiming to accelerate the rollout of Internet products and services specifically designed for mobile devices.
• The joint venture would benefit from the significant trust that exists in the mobile community between subscribers and operators, enabling a convergence of media, information, and telephony on the move.

Statistics:

• The participating companies represent a combined 620 GSM mobile operators from over 200 countries, providing mobile services to over 1 billion customers worldwide.
• The mobile TLD would enable efficient application and network services and reliability for mobile customers and service providers, increasing the ease of use and speed of delivery of mobile Internet services.
• The joint venture aims to manage the distribution of the new mobile TLD names, creating an opportunity to streamline the deployment of new Internet sites optimized for mobile usage.
• Over 49 million customers worldwide are subscribed to Orange mobile services, with 13.6 million active customers in the UK and over 20 million registered customers in France as of December 2003.

Sources:

• Microsoft Corp.
• PRN Photo Desk, photodeskprnewswire.com
• ASIA PULSE 11-03 1312
• www.mtldinfo.com
• www.three.com
• www.gsmworld.com
• www.sun.com
• www.microsoft.com
• www.vodafone.com
• www.orange.com
• www.samsung.com