BetterWebSpace Domains :: .co and the rest!

.Com and .Net

You may have already read about this elsewhere…

Verisign are the registry for .com and .net domain names and under their 6 year contract with ICANN they are allowed to increase prices to registrars by up to 7% per year. They are allowed to do this 4 times during their 6 year contract and have done it twice already since 2006.

The last two price increases, and fluctuations in the exchange rate we’ve swallowed and managed to keep prices the same to try to offer great value to our customers. Unfortunately this time we’ve made the decision that we can’t swallow this increase again.

Unlike our hosting accounts there is no way of ringfencing this price increase, so when your renewal comes it will be at the new prices set out below.  We also recognise that we may have to review UK domain prices later in the year due to the increase in VAT rate announced in the latest budget.

Pricing

• .com will rise from £9.99 per year to: £10.99 per year.
• .net will rise from £9.99 per year to: £10.99 per year.

These prices come into effect from the 1st July, so if you want to purchase a domain name at the current price, we suggest you get in before then!

.co Landrush

Every so often a new domain name extension comes along that causes a stir, we saw it with .tv (belonging to the country Tuvalu), and we’re seeing it again with the Republic of Columbia’s country code top level domain – the .co.

companies, commuinties, committees and commerce sites have all been waiting for .co extension to be released (and it’s not just open to them, anyone can buy one). Landrush phase is open now and we’re getting ready to pre-register your domain names.

What is Landrush?

Domain registrars around the world are all accepting pre-orders, so are we! We can’t guarantee to get your name, but we’ll use our preferred registrar to do what we can to make it happen. If we don’t manage to register it for you (because somebody else gets there first) we’ll refund the domain price back to you. That simple!

Once Landrush ends on the 20th July 2010*, our registrar will attempt to register your domain with the registry for .co domains (.CO Internet SAS), this is done on a first-come, first served basis as many other registrars will be doing the same (hence the lack of guarantee).

If your registration is successful we will let you know shortly afterwards. If it is not successful, we will also let you know and refund your domain price within 30 days. Refunds will not be given for any reason if we are successful in registering your chosen domain name.

After the launch date we will add domains to our regular ordering system and you will be able to order them in the usual manner, read on for how to pre-order.

If you wish to pre-register a .co you should:

1. First review the list of restricted domain names
2. Raise a ticket with us detailing:
   • The domain name.
   • The name, address, telephone number and email address the domain should be registered to.
3. We will check that the domain you have requested is available with our registrar, if it isn’t we’ll let you know and ask if you want to choose something else or wait until general release when this appears in our billing system and can do your own searches.
4. We will send you an invoice to be paid before we submit this to registrar (we are NOT adding .co to our ordering system during the landrush phase to avoid confusion by new clients!).
5. Soon after the Launch Date, we will tell you if your registration has been successful.

Pricing:

• .co domain names will be priced at £45.99 per year.

* 20th July 2010 is the “Launch Date” for .co , which out of our control and subject to change.