January 17, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- The unveiling of new domains will give consumers greater choice in defining their Web identify while concurrently creating greater revenue opportunities for ISPs and Web hosts.
Earlier this week, Global Name Registry (gnr.com) launched the ".name" domain. The new top-level domain is specifically reserved for individuals.
Most major registrar channels have signed up, including BulkRegister, DomainPeople, Dotster, Register.com, Tucows and Verisign. According to the Global Name Registry more than 60,000 domains and e-mail addresses have already been sold for approximately $30 each.
The new domain was one of seven chosen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in late 2000 to relieve overcrowding in the traditional commercial domains. Registration of ``.com,'' ``.net'' and ``.org'' names more than tripled in 2000, ending the year at 28.2 million. Though total domain name registrations increased only marginally last year, by a 13.5 per cent jump, to 32 million as of September, interest in domain name registration still continues, especially concerning personal Web sites.
Indeed, the release of the ".name" domain comes as Britain's own domain registry, Nominet (nic.uk), launches its own new domain for individuals. ".me.uk" is a second-level domain which, like ".name," will be reserved for individual users. All .uk addresses are sold as third level domains - most of them in the popular ".co.uk" addressing space, which is England's very own alternative to .com.
The .me sub-domain is unique because it is the first within the .uk domain that allows individuals to register personally. Previously, only companies, government departments and organizations registered in the extremely restricted domain.
Sub-domain registration will be costly however, with a fee of over $100.
With consumers interested in the new domains, we can expect sales to be swift. SME Web hosts will generate more revenues by promoting and hosting personal Web sites that utilize the new domain names.
As consumers of Internet access and Web services become more sophisticated, their requirements for personalized services will only increase. The most competent SME Web hosts will start to market the new domains immediately.
