18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

Frontier’s Goals in Terms of Areas of Specialty, Service Levels, or Reputation

A central purpose of the .FRONTIER gTLD will be to provide innovative product and service delivery platforms to customers through Frontier’s use of intuitive .FRONTIER namespaces (second level domain names) in relation to Frontier’s well-established areas of specialty: local and long distance voice services; data and Internet services; access services; and video services.

Examples of such services and second level domain names that will be used by Frontier include the following:

www.email.frontier (Email log-in);
www.homepage.frontier (Frontier’s home⁄main webpage);
www.portal.frontier (Frontier’s Yahoo! portal);
www.toolbar.frontier (Frontier’s Internet toolbar);
www.games.frontier (Online games);
www.frontiersecure.frontier (Secure data storage);
www.tumtiki.frontier (TumTiki® online video);
www.myaccount.frontier (Frontier online bill pay);
www.customerservice.frontier (Customer service);
www.techsupport.frontier (Technical support);
www.business.frontier (Frontier business solution center);
www.SmallBusinessCenter.frontier (Frontier Small Business);
www.investors.frontier (Frontier Investor Relations);
www.corporate.frontier (Frontier Corporate); and
www.wholesale.frontier (Frontier Wholesale).

Frontier customers will be able to more easily and intuitively locate each of the aforementioned services, and more, due to the uniform naming convention that will be used for second level .FRONTIER domain names.

.FRONTIER’s Additions to the Current Space in Terms of Competition, Differentiation, or Innovation

Frontier customers’ security on the Internet will be aided by Frontier’s use of .FRONTIER domain names as customers will recognize that .FRONTIER domain names can be trusted as legitimate Frontier websites and email addresses. Frontier intends to gradually introduce second level .FRONTIER domain names over a three year period while at the same promoting such domain names and associated services to customers. As additional second level domain names “go live,” and Frontier customers begin to recognize and use the domain names, Frontier customers will be less likely to be deceived by phishing attempts, spam emails, and other Internet based fraud attempts that improperly use Frontier’s name and⁄or trademarks.

Frontier’s use of the .FRONTIER gTLD will not only benefit Frontier, but it will also benefit consumers and the Internet community at-large by improving the safety and security of interactions on the Internet.

Frontier’s Goals in Terms of User Experience

Frontier is focused on enhancing the customer experience. Frontier’s commitment to providing customer service is demonstrated by a 100% U.S.-based workforce, expanded customer service hours, shorter scheduling windows for in-home appointments, call reminders and follow-up calls for service appointments. Frontier will extend its longstanding commitment to customer service to the operation of the .FRONTIER gTLD.

Frontier’s Intended Registration Policies

The market for the .FRONTIER gTLD for the initial three years of operation will be limited to registrations within Frontier. Frontier’s strategy for release of second level .FRONTIER domain names will be determined by corporate marketing executives and by the business plans of Frontier, and Frontier anticipates registration of no more than 50 second level domains within the .FRONTIER gTLD at the conclusion of the first three years of operation. On or before the conclusion of the third year of operation, Frontier will evaluate whether opportunities exist to advance Frontier’s business strategies for the .FRONTIER gTLD through registrations of second level .FRONTIER domain names to parties other than Frontier. Following is a description of Frontier’s currently planned three-stage rollout for the .FRONTIER gTLD.

1) Stage 1

The initial stage of implementation of the .FRONTIER gTLD will involve Frontier registering a limited number of second-level domain names such as, for example, whois.Frontier, nic.Frontier, and home.Frontier. The initial limited use of second level .FRONTIER domain names will provide Frontierʹs technical services vendors and IT personnel with the ability to run tests to ensure seamless and secure access using .FRONTIER domain names, interoperability with various software and Web-based applications, and unbroken and secure use of all domain names. This initial allocation will also allow appropriate Frontier staff to coordinate with internal and external staff responsible for the delegation and setup phases of the .FRONTIER gTLD to ensure proper transition from delegation to full operation of the .FRONTIER registry.

2) Stage 2

Once all testing has been successfully completed, Frontier will begin allocating second level domain names in the .FRONTIER gTLD for more widespread use by Frontier. Frontier will also begin evaluating strategies to potentially seek to migrate Frontier customer Internet visits⁄traffic away from Frontier’s current network of second-level domain names, which are registered in a variety of other TLDs, to Frontierʹs new .FRONTIER gTLD.

During Stage Two, Frontier will also evaluate potentially expanding the operations of the .FRONTIER gTLD to permit registration by other registrants, including customers, licensees, and strategic partners. Should an assessment of Frontier’s expansion strategy lead to a decision to extend registration rights to other parties, the expansion would take place during Stage Three. Any expansion would be conditioned on a review of Specification 9 (Registry Code of Conduct), as set forth in the “New gTLD Registry Agreement”, to ensure compliance with any potential evolution of Frontierʹs business model.

3) Stage 3

Depending upon the analysis undertaken by Frontier during Stage Two, and associated conclusions, Frontier may begin to seek a permanent migration of Internet traffic away from the other TLDs in which Frontierʹs domain names are currently registered, toward the .FRONTIER gTLD. It is during this stage that Frontier may also implement its decision to extend registration rights to a wider class of registrants, potentially including customers, licensees, and strategic partners. The dates of such an expansion are subject to change depending upon business, strategic, and industry factors at the time, and the dates are anticipated to be no earlier than three years from the date the .FRONTIER gTLD begins operation.

Frontier’s Measures for Protecting Privacy

The .FRONTIER gTLD will be a small, specialized gTLD with no public registration market for sale of second level domain names, and Frontier anticipates issuance of no more than 50 second level .FRONTIER domain names within the first three years of operation of the .FRONTIER gTLD.

Nonetheless, Frontier is sensitive to privacy issues with respect to the use of identifiable customer information provided over the Internet. Frontier does not collect and then sell, distribute, or exchange personal information with third parties other than its partners, in which case the information shared is limited to what is necessary to provide services to customers. In order to comply with the Childrenʹs Online Privacy Protection Act (ʺCOPPAʺ), Frontier does not knowingly collect any information from children under 13. Frontier only shares personal information with unaffiliated organizations that perform services on behalf of Frontier and only as necessary for them to perform these services. Frontier uses reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information collected online by Frontier.

Frontier’s Outreach and Communications Plans

Consistent with Frontier’s plans for a phased introduction of second level .FRONTIER domain names over a period of three years, Frontier envisions a similar phased introduction of marketing efforts to promote recognition and use of .FRONTIER domain names by Frontier’s current and potential customers. Frontier anticipates allocating a percentage of its overall advertising budget to promote the .FRONTIER namespace through a variety of marketing and customer outreach efforts including, for example, through traditional media, social media and electronic messaging and branding campaigns.

Similar gTLD applications: (1)