• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, November 10, 2006

dotMobi, the official registry for the .mobi domain designated for mobile Web sites, has begun the request for proposal process for four mobile domain names: news.mobi, ringtones.mobi, sports.mobi, and weather.mobi.

dotMobi is responsible for assigning 5,500 premium mobile domains by 2008 via requests for proposals and an auction process, rather than on a first come, first served basis. The first nine .mobi domains, including flowers.mobi, celebs.mobi and Hot.mobi, were auctioned Oct. 27, for a total amount just below $400,000. Flowers.mobi fetched the highest price at about $200,000. Online auctions of .mobi domains are to start next year.

The winning proposals for the latest batch of domains will be selected based on the applicant's business and technical capabilities, with an emphasis on proposed content for the Web site as it relates to the particular domain name. The winners will be announced in January, and the sites are expected to go live a month later. Applications are due no later than Dec. 18, 2006.

Sites created using the .mobi domain are intended to make accessing the Internet faster and content more mobile-friendly. Since .mobi registration began last month, more than 240,000 domain names have been registered.

Other premium domains to be auctioned or doled out through the RFP process include airfares.mobi, films.mobi, health.mobi, and sex.mobi.

dotMobi is backed by a group of mobile operators and wireless industry companies including Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone.