Domain registrar Network
Solutions Inc. Monday announced that it has signed 100 Internet providers
to its International Premier Domain Registration Services program.
Participating companies in the program can offer expedited .com, .net and
.org global Web address services to the rapidly growing number of Internet
users outside the United States. International members receive access to Network
Solutions’ domain name registration services along with account management
and customer service supporting multiple languages and time zones.
Network Solutions launched its International Premier Program in July 1998
with the signing of six companies in Scandinavia, which has the highest
percentage of online users per capita. Currently, 100 companies
in 25 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Asia/Pacific and
the Americas (outside the U.S.) have joined the program, including the top
10 countries
ranked by volume of .com, .net and .org registrations after the U.S.:
Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, China,
and Australia.
The last 10 companies to join the program came from Canada, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, and New Zealand.
“We could not be more pleased with the acceptance of our domain
registration services in the international markets,” said Gary Hayward,
Network Solutions’ vice president of international partner relations and
sales. “We look forward to working with our Premiers as we strive to make
the registration process for .com, .net and .org simple and fast for end
users everywhere.”
“It’s apparent that the phrase ‘dot com’ is one of the few understood in
almost every language on Earth,” Hayward said. “We continue to see growing
numbers of registrations in all countries as online costs come down
particularly in China and India, which have risen the most dramatically in
the last six months. We attribute the rise in registrations outside the
U.S. to the ease, relatively low cost and worldwide recognition of dot com
around the world.”
Throughout Europe and the Asia/Pacific, declining online costs and other
conditions are leading to higher numbers of Internet users. For example,
late last year the Indian government opened the way for hundreds of
privately-run ISPs to begin offering competitively priced dial-up
connections. Meanwhile, the Premier of China has declared 1999 as the “Year
of the Internet,” and a growing number of Chinese citizens are expected to
begin using the Internet based on PC sales forecasts given by the Chinese
Ministry of Information Industry.
Network Solutions, Inc. led the development of registering Web addresses
ending in .com, .net, .org and .edu, although it will soon lose its exclusive
lockup on these services, which it held since 1993.