Despite the potential mobile Internet offers Africa, businesses on the continent have not registered mobile top-level domain (MTLD) names.
This is according to Alexa Raad, VP of marketing and business development for .mobi, the first mobile registry approved by ICANN in 2005.
The registration period for a .mobi MTLD name is two weeks into play, with 8 500 trademark names already registered, she says.
"There are no African investors in .mobi, [bar] the Egyptian Telecom player, Orascom Telecom."
Raad believes Africa is a vibrant base for the mobile Internet because of the high numbers of people who use cellphones on the continent. "The mobile Internet has a great story to tell in Africa because the majority of the population has access to a cellphone as opposed to a PC."
Accessing Internet content via a cellphone is going to be cheaper for consumers, making it an affordable medium for developing nations to exercise the right to access information, she adds.
"High-speed mobile networks create strong channels for Africa to access the Internet, rather than the traditional and more expensive landline networks."
Strong platform
Raad explains a strong mobile Internet is an effective way for companies to meet consumers` needs. "The mobile phone represents a direct channel to the consumer since it is the one indispensable device most of us carry with us at all times.
"At present, there are more than two billion mobile phones in use around the world, and 1.8 billion of them will be connected to the Internet as early as 2008."
She says that brand names like Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, T-Mobile, Visa, Wal-Mart, BMW, Virgin, Ferrari and many others have secured .mobi domain names.
The registry`s Web site says the "sunrise" period for trademarks that was scheduled to end on 22 August, has been postponed to 22 September to allow more time for trademarks holders to register names. It has also been postponed so companies can create strong content behind their sites.
The general public are free to register starting 26 September.
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