The results of the closed auction for the new gTLD .PHONE became public. There were two contenders for the domain – Donuts and American satellite communications firm Dish DBS. Domain Incite reports that Donuts has withdrawn its application, which means that Dish DBS is the winner.
Initially the company applied for a “closed generic”. However, the registration of domain names that are dictionary words for further usage by one company only was banned by ICANN. As a result the application of Dish DBS has changed. However, even the current version doesn’t allow open registration. Apart from the firm itself, only licensed telecom operators can register names in the domain zone. Earlier on USTelecom, an association of US-based telecom companies, expressed concern that Dish DBS would prevent third-party registrations in .PHONE. However, ICANN representatives are certain that the requirements expressed in the application are objective enough and will not allow to transform .PHONE into a “closed generic”.
