Domain industry veterans form a "global supply chain
supergroup," secure the first viable alternative to .com
TORONTO, Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - A newly formed
entity owned by Radix, Tucows and Namecheap won the auction to
operate the .online registry for an undisclosed amount.
In the past year, dozens of new generic top level domains
(gTLDs) from .actor to .wtf have brought meaning to the letters
after the dot for niche constituencies and content. Soon, domain
registrants will have one broad, intuitive, uncluttered alternative
to .com for almost any initiative online.
They will also have a registry operator that is up to the
task.
Radix is poised to join the largest registries in the world with
applications to operate 20 suffixes and a warchest of over
$30 million to ensure its
success.
Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX; TSX:TC) operates OpenSRS, the largest
wholesale domain name registrar in the world, with over 14,000
resellers in 150 countries and 14 million domains under
management.
Namecheap is one of the most popular retail domain name services
in the world, with over four million domains under management, two
million direct customers, best-in-class user interfaces and
outstanding customer support.
Together, the three companies bring unparalleled domain name
experience and global distribution. That is fitting for .online,
which perhaps brings unparalleled global relevance and appeal.
"Online" is the most commonly used word to end domain names,
with over 550K .com domain names today ending with the word
"online." In addition, the .online extension has been amongst the
top most pre-registered names across registrars.
".online is the one new gTLD that requires no explanation,"
chanted Radix CEO Bhavin Turakhia,
Tucows CEO Elliot Noss and Namecheap
CEO Richard Kirkendall. On the count
of three, the CEOs continued, "We are excited to leverage our joint
capabilities to bring this exciting new generic to the global
market."
Each of Radix, Tucows and NameCheap will contribute $4 to $5 million to cover the cost of the auction
and the initial funding of seed capital for the registry. Tucows
will treat its contribution as an investment for the purposes of
financial reporting.
.online is expected to be generally available for registrations
in early 2015.
About Radix
Radix (Radix FZC), is an active participant in ICANN's process to
expand the internet naming system and introduce new, meaningful
internet addresses. Radix is Asia's largest new gTLD applicant under this
program with applications to operate 20 suffixes including web,
.music, .blog, and .shop. The company has invested over
$30 Million in securing licenses to
operate these new extensions and expects to play a large role in
the global diversification of the internet namespace.
About Tucows
Tucows is a provider of network access, domain name and other
Internet services. OpenSRS (http://opensrs.com) manages over
fourteen million domain names and millions of value-added services
through a global reseller network of over 13,000 web hosts and
ISPs. Hover (http://hover.com) is the easiest way for individuals
and small businesses to manage their domain names and email
addresses. Ting (https://ting.com) is a mobile phone service
provider dedicated to bringing clarity and control to US mobile
phone users. More information can be found on Tucows'
corporate website (http://tucows.com).
About Namecheap
Namecheap is a Los Angeles-based
ICANN-accredited domain registrar, founded in 2000 by CEO
Richard Kirkendall. With over four
million domains under management and two million direct customers,
Namecheap is one of the top domain registrars and web hosting
providers in the world. For more information, visit
https://www.namecheap.com.
SOURCE Tucows Inc.