DomainesInfo is reporting that the next gTLD launch, following .ASIA, should be .TEL. DomainesInfo tracked down Philip Colebrook, Telnic’s SVP Business Development & Policy at the recent ICANN meeting in LA and the official line from Telnic is.TEL should launch in the first half of 2008.

DomainesInfo has “since learned that the .TEL Sunrise should begin in May. There will be a single Sunrise period, lasting 60 days. ‘We’ve gone for a single stage, first come first served Sunrise,” Colebrook explained in LA. “The only eligible prior rights will be trademarks with national effect. And we won’t use a pre-validation system.’”

The article goes on to say “Telnic wants to stay away from the complicated Sunrise systems that end up being a massive headache for prospective registrants. And they don’t like the auction models that have been used for .MOBI or .ASIA.”

To read the full article in DomainesInfo, see domainesinfo.fr/english/138/tel-nearly-ready-to-dial.php