TRA launches new campaign to increase .ae registration

The main objective of the campaign is to target new businesses that have yet to register a domain name and also existing organizations and businesses that have a web presence but have not registered for a .ae domain name.

"In the period [August 2008 to August 2009], the number of new registrations increased by 30 per cent compared to the corresponding period the year before. There are more registrars [no monopoly] providing .ae domain name registration. Customers have the choice to select their registrar as competition leads to better service. The registration process brought online has also made it easier," said TRA

The campaign highlights the importance of registering and using .ae domain names by all public and private entities operating in UAE or having a relationship with UAE. If an internet address has .ae at the end of it, its registered in the United Arab Emirates and a part of the .ae domain space regulated by the .aeDA.

In his comments, H.E. Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General, said:

"We encourage all companies and entities in UAE to move to .ae as it truly represents their UAE identity on the Internet."

Al Ghanim added, "Through the introduction of .aeDA, we streamlined and automated the entire registration process and brought on multiple new accredited Registrars for better pricing, services and access. We also made changes to increase .ae openness and accessibility while retaining the strong moral and cultural identity of the UAE. Our new campaign is aimed at promoting the .ae domain so that it becomes the domain of choice for all users willing to showcase a UAE presence on the World Wide Web."

The most common usage in the area of domain names is .com, which is an example of a generic Top Level Domain (gTLD). With the commercialization and popularization of the Internet in the 1990s, the .com domain quickly became the most common top-level domain for websites, email and networking.

The use of ccTLDs like .ae is specific to individual countries around the world. Some examples of ccTLDs are .uk for the United Kingdom, .au for Australia and .kw for Kuwait. The trend towards localizing online contents for better serving national identity, communities, customers and end users has paved the way for many websites to move to ccTLDs.

"There are many rational benefits to have a .ae domain name. It allows you to protect your web space, access the name you want for your domain name, and signal to your customers where your business is located. It is worth mentioning that .com is a saturated namespace and has already 80 million registered domain names compared to around 90 thousands registered .ae domain names," said Mohammed Gheyath, Executive Director, Technology Development Affairs.

"This would make the chance of getting good and catchy names under .ae much higher than .com But one of main emotional reasons is national pride. The UAE has an excellent local, regional, and global representation as an economic powerhouse and an ultra-modern nation. Having a .ae address is a big business tool that lets the company develop a unique national identity that positively communicates that the company is based in the UAE. An example of countries where the use of ccTLD dominates the use of .com is Germany. Almost all German websites uses .de as they consider it a national pride," he added.

Additional details and information about .aeDA Registry System and the accredited .aeDA registrars are available on the website www.aeda.ae. The .aeDA is responsible for the setting and enforcement of all policy with regard to the operation of the .ae ccTLD as well as overseeing the operation of the Registry System.