The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has cut the cost of registering or renewing a dot.ie domain name by 5.8pc.
The price reduction has been introduced as a result of continued growth in registrations, the managed registry said.
Registrations have passed 92,000 domain names, representing a net 29pc increase since January 2007, according to IEDR. The registry put the strong growth in dot.ie domain names down to the efforts of re-sellers, IEDR’s process improvements, increasing broadband availability and internet take-up, consumer demand for safe, reliable domain addresses and the introduction of personal domain names.
Following the launch of personal dot.ie domain names on the 31 October 2007, registrations in November were almost 3,900, the first time that registrations exceeded 3,000 a month, IEDR said.
“Since 2003 the IEDR has introduced five price reductions, reducing the direct price of a dot.ie domain by 48pc,” commented David Curtin, chief executive, IEDR. “The reductions have been feasible due to strong registration growth and the IEDR’s focus on reducing costs, while simultaneously making significant investment in the domain infrastructure and registration system improvements. Dot.ie domain names are now better, faster, cheaper and more secure than ever before.”
“We are very pleased with the continued strong growth of dot.ie registrations. I would like to particularly commend the efforts of dot.ie re-sellers who in 2007 have delivered new registration growth of 29pc compared to 2006 and who have continued to promote and enhance the dot.ie brand. As a result, the dot.ie domain name remains the Irish domain market leader with a 40pc market share.”
In 2007, the dot.ie domain name was named the second safest country code domain namespace in the world by the McAfee Site Advisor Report.
Following news of the IEDR price drop, re-seller Register365 announced a cut in its domain prices from €25.95 to €21.95, matching IEDR’s 5.8pc reduction.
“We welcome the IEDR price drop as they have been investing in their own system automation and releasing this to re-sellers through an API,” said Stephen McCarron, managing director, Register365. “We have been using this API since day one and it saves us a huge amount of manual labour. Previously every domain registration needed to be handled and submitted manually. We have a policy of passing savings on to our customers, and we are the price leader in Ireland for domains and hosting.”
Register365 is a division of Hosting365. It hosts 35pc of Irish websites and has over 75,000 customers.
By Niall Byrne
