14 DAY TRIAL // Nobody can argue that the number of mobile-dedicated websites has risen considerably, since the mobile market has one of the most flourishing ones all around the world, while more and more customers use their devices as a means to access the Internet. Therefore, the acquisition of the domain .mobi is sure to bring Afilias, provider of Internet infrastructure services and registry operator for .INFO, more benefits than we can count.
Without having disclosed the sum, the company actually purchased the sponsoring organization and registry operator mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd., the one behind the most popular Web addresses designed specifically for mobile devices. The Ireland-based Afilias Limited is projected to keep operating the domain as a wholly owned subsidiary after having bought all the issued and outstanding capital stodotMobick of mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd. (a.k.a dotMobi).
“Afilias has long been a leader in launching new TLDs and now supports over 50 percent of the entire universe of registrations in TLDs launched since 2001,” Hal Lubsen, CEO of Afilias, is reported to have said at the time of the official acquisition. “Our acquisition of dotMobi reflects our long term commitment to the success of the TLDs we support and the communities they serve. We are particularly proud of the global success of the .mobi domain, and look forward to working with the dotMobi team and the mobile community to build on this solid base.”
The two companies have been collaborating for a long time, ever since the predecessor of dotMobi, called Mobi JV, was founded in 2004 by a group of 14 mobile operators, network and device manufacturers, as well as Internet-content providers, more precisely Ericsson, Google, GSM Association, Hutchison 3, Microsoft, Nokia, Orascom Telecom, Samsung Electronics, Syniverse, T-Mobile, Telefónica Móviles, Telecom Italia, Visa and Vodafone.
In 2006, Afilias began to offer registry services and, until today, there have been about one million .mobi websites, spread all over the world. After the recent acquisition, the Irish company is sure to increase the value and focus of the service due to its prolonged experience that includes registry and DNS services for more than 15 million domains worldwide. In addition, the company also supports .INFO, .ORG, .aero, .ASIA, .AG (Antigua and Barbuda), .BZ (Belize), .GI (Gibraltar), .HN (Honduras), .IN (India), .LC (St. Lucia), .ME (Montenegro), .MN (Mongolia), .SC (the Seychelles), and .VC (St. Vincent and the Grenadines).