.ORG Numbers from the latest PIR Newsletter

Public Interest Registry (PIR), the Registry operator for the .ORG domain extension have published their bi-annual report last week.

Here are some key insights from this report:

• .ORG domains have crossed the 9.6 million registrations mark
• Registrations in 2011 have increased by 9.9%. This number was 9.7% for 2010
• .ORG experienced a consistent rate of increase, at 4.4 percent in the second half of 2011, compared to 4.7 percent in the first half.

Yearly Growth of .ORG Domains

Top 10 Markets by Country

Over and above the management of .ORG, PIR has also announced its intention to pursue the .NGO new gTLD.

You can read the entire report here: http://pir.org/pdf/dashboard_2H_2011.pdf.

LogicBoxes Partners with .BZ Registry

We are pleased to announce our partnership with the .BZ Registry, University Management Ltd. to provide business automation solutions to their in-house Registrar arm, BelizeNic.

.BZ is the country code top-level domain for Belize. Prior to partnering with us, BelizeNic was using a legacy system to sell .BZ domains. The Registry was looking to migrate to a stable and flexible platform that would allow it to expand its product suite and deliver better customer experience.

LogicBoxes has now setup BelizeNic on its proprietary Registrar platform – OrderBox. Additionally, we completed the migration and transition without affecting their existing customers.

Post migration, BelizeNic has inherited the ability to manage its customers and provide them with a more inclusive set of web services like Web & Email Hosting, Website Builders and Digital Certificates.

BelizeNic also has plans to target nearby territories in the coming months. To facilitate these future plans, they will be realizing localized sites, complete with country-specific currency and multi-lingual options with the OrderBox infrastructure.

As a growing trend, many Registries are establishing their own Registrar entity to tap into local markets. Often the first stop for customers looking to purchase domains in smaller ccTLD spaces, this model successfully serves the customer’s best interest. It also gives the Registry greater control over marketing activities and complements the work done by foreign Registrars in creating awareness and increasing purchase channels.

“Initially we did have concerns about the transition but the LogicBoxes team quickly allayed them when they swung into action,” says Juan Carlos Namis, General Manager, BelizeNic. “Thanks to this partnership, we now focus on more important business activities and leave the day-to-day tasks to be handled by the LogicBoxes platform automation.”

“We’re excited to be partnering with BelizeNic. We’ve spent a lot of development time creating a local’ solution for Registries who want to take control of direct sales to customers. This has allowed us to partner with multiple ccTLDs across the world and we look forward to helping BelizeNic better serve their customers,” said Sandeep Ramchandani, Director, LogicBoxes.

About University Management LTD:

University Management LTD (UMLTD) was founded on October 2000 in order to manage, market and promote the “.BZ” top-level domain name and Internet related services such as web hosting and specialized IT training. In collaboration with strategic partners, the company plans to offer internet solutions including domain name registration, web hosting, co-location servers, DNS services, POP/web-based e-mail and .BZ directory services to its customers. For more information, please visit: http://nic.bz.

.RU Domains Names Available on OrderBox

Registrars and partners will now be able to use sell .RU domains from OrderBox.

Apart from second level .RU domains, third level domains under .COM.RU, .NET.RU and .ORG.RU are also available for registration.

To give you a perspective of the size of the ccTLD, since its inception in 1994 , .RU has amassed about 3.6 Million+ Domain Registrations so far.

Total number of domain names in .RU (2003-2011)

Pic Courtesy: .RU Co-ordination Center

Registrars: If you need any help in marketing this ccTLD, please contact your respective Account Managers.