NSI registered 1,911,000 new domains. NSI registers domain names ending in .com, .net, .org and .edu. The .com domain is the most popular, accounting for 84 percent of cumulative total registrations.

The company reported that roughly 70 percent of new registrations in 1998 were for U.S. businesses and individuals, with the remaining 30 percent of registrations going to international users, the same amount as the previous year.

The top countries seeking new domains were: the U.S., Spain, Canada, Italy, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, China, France, Japan, Sweden and Australia.

In the U.S., California requested the most new domain addresses, followed by Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Washington, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, Illinois and Maryland.

"In 1998, dot com became a household name across the globe as more Internet users came online to communicate and set up shop," said Robert Korzeniewski, Network Solutions' chief financial officer and acting chief operating officer.

"Net new Internet registrations nearly doubled for the second consecutive year and were up almost 300 percent from 1996 figures. Network Solutions achieved this growth in part through strategic relationships with leading Internet service providers. At the same time Network Solutions introduced several complementary services including dot com mail," Korzeniewski said.

During recent months, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ICANN comprised of Internet professionals, has worked with the government to transfer the domain system to the private sector, ending NSI's exclusive contract to administer the system.

In related news, Network Solutions Tuesday also announced it will invest $2 million in Critical Path, Inc., an outsourced e-mail solutions provider. The investment represents part of a $31 million equity funding Critical Path as it expands internationally.

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