LONDON, December 15 /PRNewswire/ --     Telnic Limited (http://www.telnic.org), the Registry Operator
for the new .tel top level domain-driven directory service, announced today
that it had received thousands of applications from leading brands for the
new, mobile-optimized contacts directory on the internet within the first
hours of opening registration period for trademark owners.

"We're delighted to see applications from such a breadth of
businesses and categories worldwide," said Khashayar Mahdavi, CEO of Telnic.
"Trademark owners have obviously got the message that .tel is a huge
departure from .com-type domains that host web content and is instead an
innovative platform for communications."

Within the first minute of Sunrise (the two-month period for
trademark holders to apply for their .tel domains), Google, Apple, Microsoft,
News Corporation, MySpace, Amex, BP, FedEx, Virgin, Sony, Gap, Visa,
McDonalds, Orange, MTV, Dell, Coca-Cola, Vodafone, Honda, Intel, BlackBerry,
P&G, Starbucks, Subway, Johnson & Johnson, Dominos, Cisco, Unilever, Best
Buy, British Airways and Victoria's Secret amongst others had all applied for
their .tel domains. Other applications included:

- Prestige Brands: Jimmy Choo, Ferrari, Maserati, Versace,
      Tiffany & Co, Porsche, Lamborghini, Davos-Klosters, St. Moritz, Marks &
      Spencer, Bose, Hermes, Patek Philippe, DeBeers, Rolex, BMW, Orient 
      Express, Ugg, Christian Dior, Faberge
    
    - Consulting: Accenture, BCG, Arthur D Little, Deloitte &
      Touche, KPMG, Mazars

    - Banking, Insurance & Professional Services: HSBC, Allianz,
      Barclays Wealth, Citi Bank, Charles Schwab, Standard Chartered, 
      Schroders, Prudential, Sun Life, ING Bank, ANZ Bank, Santander, HBOS, 
      NS&I/Premium Bonds, BBVA Group, ABN Amro, Halifax, Standard Life, 
      Fidelity

    - Hospitality: Marriott, InterHotel, Ritz-Carlton, Hard Rock
      Cafe, Sofitel, Diners Club International, Novotel, Renaissance Hotels

    - Energy: Ashland, Castrol, Conoco, ELF, Total, Esso, National
      Grid, BP

    - Health & Pharmaceutical: Novartis, Astra-Zeneca, Baxter,
      BMA, Boston Scientific, Philips, Merck, Molnlycke

    - Airlines, Aerospace & Aviation: Airbus, BAE Systems, Fokker,
      Virgin Atlantic, Air China, Airmiles, ATAG, British Airways, EasyJet, 
      KLM, Japan Airlines,

    - Media: BBC, Sony Pictures, Financial Times, Le Figaro, The
      Economist, Freemantle Media, Les, Echos, Pop Idol, The X Factor, Star
      Academy, Bloomberg, Viacom, VH1, News Corporation, Comedy Central, 
      Showtime, IDG, CBS News, CNET, Forbes, CNN, Sky News, 20th Century Fox, 
      Discovery Channel, Thomson, Nielsen, Film4

    - Sports & Games: New York Yankees, Boston Redsox, Texas
      Rangers, World Series, Hasbro, Daytona

    - Information & Online Services: Yellow Pages, Lastminute.com,
      Pages Jaunes, Pages Blanches, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Ticketmaster, 
      National Car Rental, Easy Rent a Car, Ebookers

Trademark owners only have until February 2nd 2009 to register
their trademarks for .tel domains in this protected period, after which time
the ICANN-approved Universal Dispute Resolution Process (UDRP) will enable
brand owners which have not protected their trademarks to re-gain them. This
can however be a long and costly process.

Final numbers for .tel domains in Sunrise will be released
after the period has closed, as applications need to be validated by third
party validation agent, Deloitte, prior to being awarded to the applicants,
to make sure that the trademark being applied for is legitimately held.

About Telnic Limited

Founded in 2000, Telnic Limited is the UK-based Registry Operator and
Sponsoring Organization for the new .tel sponsored top level domain (sTLD).
For more information regarding the .tel domain or Telnic Limited, please
visit http://www.telnic.org. .tel will launch to trademark holders on
December 3, 2008 and everyone else on February 3, 2009.