dotCapeTown easily beats dotJoburg
The 623 applications for .capetown (‘dotCapeTown’) city Top-Level Domains (cTLDs) received to date by the ZA Central Registry (ZACR) far outstrip the predicted favourite .joburg (‘dotJoburg’) which has seen 297 cTLD applications.
The ZACR has received 250 .durban (‘dotDurban’) cTLD applications. In total, this means that there are currently some 1,170 launch applications for ZAdotCity domain names.
What is noteworthy is that 237 dotCapeTown domain name applications have been submitted by just one person, skewing the cTLD stakes.
Three of South Africa’s four major banks have applied for a ZAdotCity domain name. There are 32 auctions pending for domain names that have more than one applicant.
Most of South Africa’s favourite technology brands have applied for all three ZAdotCity domain names.
The 1,170 applications for ZAdotCity domain names were received during the parallel Sunrise and Landrush periods managed by the ZACR.
These time periods were designed to protect the rights of trademark holders prior to ZAdotCities domain names becoming available on a first-come, first-served basis from November 2014.
This last application period is known as the General Availability phase, where intellectual property owners will no longer receive priority when it comes to registering domain names within South Africa’s three new cTLDs.
“From November, any Internet user globally with an affinity for South Africa’s three best-known cities will be able to register a South African cTLD, on a first-come, first-served basis,” said Lucky Masilela, CEO of the ZACR.
Registration of names from 4 November will follow the usual process where applicants register through their chosen accredited registrars or resellers.
As is normal practice, different registrars will charge different prices due to bundled services they provide in addition to the basic domain name registration service.
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