The recent launch of the new gTLDs is opening up opportunities and projects to head off the competition. Several registry operators are allowing the registration of new domains under existing or recently-created extensions.
The digital domains .TEL
On October 15 2013 the registry operator Telnic launched digital domains comprised of 8 digits or more. Domain names such as “00442074676450.tel” or “0208-467-6450.tel” are available for registration on a “first-come, first-served basis”.
Re-opening of extensions .CO.DE and .CO.NU
The registry operator DNNext S.A. has decided to re-open for registration domain names under non-official extensions.CO.DE for Germany and .CO.NU for the island of Niue. It is important to note that these extensions are not affiliated to the official registers DE and NU but only to a single register DNNext.
A .NZ in competition with .KIWI
Over in New Zealand on October 11, the Council of InternetNZ approved for registration domain names under .NZ which will be in addition to third level registrations under extensions such as .CO.NZ, .ORG.NZ or .NET.NZ.
The registry operator DOT KIWI will offer for registration names in .NZ in addition to .KIWI in the next few months. They stress, however, that the registry operator’s main problem concerning these registrations is the fact that those who invested in a .CO.NZ will perhaps not be able to safeguard their domain in .NZ, due to lack of finance.