Group NBT is well placed to take advantage of new domain extensions approved by ICANN

On 20 June 2011, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN) approved the plan to introduce one of the most significant changes in internet naming history.  Under the new plan, the number of internet domain name suffixes will be significantly increased beyond the existing ones such as .com, .net and .org. These internet domain name endings are known as generic Top Level Domains (“gTLDs).

Group NBT, a leading global supplier of domain name management and associated services, is well placed to build on its market-leading position to benefit from the long-term increase in gTLDs.  The Group is already working with a number of large companies throughout Europe which are preparing to make applications to use their brands and names as domain name extensions. This will enable them to improve their visibility on the internet and change the way in which they market their services online. It will also provide an increased level of security by allowing a company complete control over that domain extension.

The Group currently provides consultancy services to help companies with feasibility studies and the application process.  ICANN will accept applications for new gTLDs from Thursday 12 January 2012 to Thursday 12 April 2012 and new gTLDs are not expected to be operational until early 2013. Over the next eighteen months Group NBT expects to work with customers to help them to assess the feasibility of a personalised domain extension and to make the complex application to ICANN.  The Company also plans to manage the registry function for any of its customers applying for a new gTLD.  

In addition, it is likely that Group NBT’s customers will register in many of the newly created gTLDs, once they are available, significantly increasing the names under management. There are currently in excess of 200 million domain names registered; new gTLDs will potentially increase this number significantly. The Group will benefit from this as its customers make use of these new names or will need to register them to protect their intellectual property.