An Arabic net address ending has become the first to go live as part of the rollout of more than 1,000 new generic top-level domain (gTLD) name suffixes.
The first websites ending in شبكة. – pronounced dot shabaka, and meaning web – went online a day ahead of schedule.
The extension marks the beginning of a new era for internet registrations. Until now, there were only 22 gTLDs, including .com and .org, in addition to country code endings, such as .uk.
Organisers say the existing system had become too crowded, but critics say the expansion will add to firms’ costs.
Dot-shabaka is the first in a range of a thousand new suffixes which will be gradually rolled out in order to expand the range of addresses available, with the new rules allowing brands and companies to own suffixes up to 63 characters in length.
It is the biggest set of suffix additions since 1998, when ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) was set up to manage and extend the Internet’s domains, which started out with a handful of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .com and .org, back in 1984.
Alongside these, there are now 280 country-specific TLDs, such as .uk and .fr, and a few more such as .biz and .xxx.
ICANN has long wanted to increase the diversity of the Internet, especially to include countries using non-Latin scripts such as Arabic.
The DotShabaka Registry – the Dubai-based business running the شبكة. gTLD – announced that both its own homepage and that of the United Arab Emirates telecoms provider Etisalat had started using its new suffix, at a conference in Dubai.
“For the first time, Internet users across the world will be able to use generic Top-Level Domain names entirely in their native languages,” said Akram Atallah, President of ICANN’s Global Domain’s Division. “This change will promote closer connections between people, brands and organisations and will in turn provide new routes for businesses to reach their customers.”
Businesses can now register second-level domains within top level suffixes such as dot-shabaka if they want to further publicise and protect their brand’s identity online. Most of the new domains will cost about £10 to £30, or $15 to $50, per year to own, but there will be associated administration costs that may add up.
Businesses wishing to protect and publicise their brands will want to register what are called second-level domains under the new suffixes- for example Coca-Cola might want to safeguard coke.shop when the .shop gTLD becomes available.
Although most of these new domains should only cost about £10 to £30 a year to own, the sheer number and associated administrative costs will add up.
Wholesalers offering the new gTLDs need to charge such amounts to cover their own costs, including the $185,000 (£113,200) application fee they had to pay to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), a non-profit organisation overseeing the process.