3G Domains: "Fool's Gold" ?

After global telecom companies have spent billions on licensing to provide 3G services, it appears that global Internet address resellers are positioning themselves for windfalls from the sale of 3G domains.

Is this a "fool's gold", or will their investments (some spending thousands to acquire top 3G domain portfolios) pay off?

On the "Fool's Gold" side sits one Deutsche Telekom head who said in an article on WAP.com, "operators are going to have to recoup their losses first, and even then I can't seem them blowing GBR 500,000 on one valuable domain name."

On the other end of the spectrum is Gary Rohland, President of Global Telecom Domains, who says, "In order for 3G Service Providers to "recoup their losses" incurred on the billions spent on the licensing, they'll need to advertise the service they've positioned themselves for...and advertising around a memorable, easily spelled, generic domain that encompasses the 3G market is cost-effective. Just ask the buyers of "WallStreet.com" if their $ 3 M purchase of the domain has paid off".

In our opinion at Global Telecom Domains, a few of the nearly 1,000 3G domains now for resale will break records for telecom domain sale prices in the aftermarket. Domain names that are generic, have no trademark violations, and directly name a burgeoning sector such as 3G are cost-effective marketing tool. Domains like "3GBroadband.com", "3GEurope.com", and "3GCalls.com" are Internet marketing essentials, not luxuries.

The fact is, a short, memorable, generic domain, can have more effect in driving traffic and revenue to a site or service than a multi-million dollar marketing campaign, and the searches for those domains in the 3G sector are currently on. In fact there were nearly twice as many searches on the GoTo (TM) network for "3G Domains" in January than there were for "Telecom Domains". People are searching for these domains now, and it's just a matter of time before a record-breaking 3G domain sale is announced."