Overview
- .phone is a proposed generic top-level domain (gTLD) introduced through ICANN's New gTLD Program.
- Classified in the Technology category and intended to represent the generic string "phone," which associates it with the broader phone/telecom market sector.
History
- The string .phone was applied for as part of ICANN's New gTLD Program.
- Current known applicants:
- Donuts (Wild Frostbite, LLC): Donuts has applied for a large portfolio of TLDs (307 TLDs) and submitted a Public Interest Commitment (PIC) for .phone.
- Dish DBS Corporation: also an applicant for .phone.
- Priority numbers recorded for applicants:
- Donuts (Wild Frostbite, LLC): 1538
- Dish DBS Corporation: 1764
- Objections and government advice:
- The United States Telecom Association filed a Community Objection against Dish's application.
- Dish's application received a GAC Early Warning (from Australia and the GAC Chair). The warning noted that the applicant was seeking exclusive access to a common generic string that "relates to a broad market sector," and cautioned this could have unintended consequences for competition.
Usage and Audience
- The string .phone is inherently tied to the phone and telecommunications market sector.
- Potential audience (as implied by the string and ICANN materials):
- Businesses and services operating in telephony and telecommunications
- Phone hardware and device vendors
- Communication service providers and related technology companies
Notable Cases or Examples
- Donuts (Wild Frostbite, LLC): submitted a PIC as part of its application; part of Donuts' extensive portfolio of gTLD applications.
- Dish DBS Corporation: faced a Community Objection from the United States Telecom Association and received a GAC Early Warning regarding exclusivity and competition concerns.
Operator
Dish DBS Corporation
Whois
% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object
domain: PHONE
organisation: Dish DBS Corporation
address: 9601 S. Meridian Boulevard
address: Englewood CO 80112
address: United States of America (the)
contact: administrative
name: Director Advanced Video Products
organisation: DISH DBS Corporation
address: 9601 S. Meridian Boulevard
address: Englewood CO 80112
address: United States of America (the)
phone: +1.303.723.1000
fax-no: +1.303.723.1699
e-mail: cscngtlds28@cscinfo.com
contact: technical
name: Francisco Obispo
organisation: Tucows.com, Co.
address: 96 Mowat Avenue
address: Toronto Ontario M6K3M1
address: Canada
phone: +1 (416) 535-0123
e-mail: trs-ops@tucows.com
nserver: NS01.TRS-DNS.COM 2620:57:4001:0:0:0:0:1 64.96.1.1
nserver: NS01.TRS-DNS.INFO 185.159.198.3 2620:10a:80ab:0:0:0:0:3
nserver: NS01.TRS-DNS.NET 2620:57:4002:0:0:0:0:1 64.96.2.1
nserver: NS01.TRS-DNS.ORG 185.159.197.3 2620:10a:80aa:0:0:0:0:3
ds-rdata: 62477 13 2 1c61d7a336d5345e623dccff81ef2fd0c2b7f2906606ccad499cb9ff3d827cc2
whois: whois.nic.phone
status: ACTIVE
remarks: Registration information: https://www.dish.com/
created: 2016-12-15
changed: 2025-07-22
source: IANA
