Rare domain names to be auctioned

Internet domain names with only one or two characters will be auctioned off from July 1 under the Telecommunication Law, according to the Viet Nam National Internet Centre (VNNIC).

Tran Minh Tan, deputy director of the VNNIC, said that the one and two character domain names such as www.1.vn or www.hp.vn were very valuable because they were easy to remember and pronounce, and because they were rare.

According to VNNIC statistics, there are only 36 possible one-character domains derived from the 26 characters of the Latin alphabet (A to Z) and the digits 0 to 9. These numbers and letters can be combined into more than 1,200 two-character domain names.

“These domain names will benefit the enterprises as they advertise their trademarks,” said Tan.

To participate in the auction, bidders must pay a deposit to a VNNIC domain registration agent. The deposit amount will be VND40 million (US$2,100) per year for single character domains and VND10 million ($526) for two character domains.

“Auction attendees will have to pay a deposit equivalent to the minimum annual fee to hold on to the domain name for one year,” said Tan.

In addition to holding the auction, the Telecommunication Law also allows the transfer of domain names from one register to another, with the exception of domain names allocated to State agencies and organisations such as edu.vn or gov.vn.

He said the permission for domain name transfers would reduce the number of illegal domain name transfers, which is currently popular in the country.

“The VNNIC will co-operate with its registration agents to help guarantee domain transfer activities,” he added.

VNNIC’s director Nguyen Le Thuy said a total of 120,000 national domain names had been registered to date.

The.vn domain names must be purchased for a minimum of one year and a maximum of ten years. After the expiration date, the domain names will stay active for one month. If the owner of the domain name chooses not to renew, the website will be deleted immediately and other organisations, individuals and enterprises will be able to bid to take the domain over.

Viet Nam reached its goal of 100,000 domain names by the end of 2010 nearly one year ahead of schedule.

Consequently, Viet Nam now ranks second after Singapore in Southeast Asia for the highest number of national domain names.

Le Nam Thang, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, said that with more than 100,000.vn domain names and around 80,000 international domain names, it was clear that the development of the internet in Viet Nam was very strong.

Fourteen agents have been registered to issue.vn domain names, including 9 domestic and 5 foreign agents.

The Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology accounts for largest market share with more than 23 per cent, followed by PA Viet Nam at 20.9 per cent, Mat Bao at 14.7 per cent and Hi-Tech with 11 per cent.

Viet Nam News

Tags: Vietnam domain, Vietnam IT