The Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) will be launching
Chinese domain names (CDN) on 3 November. The move means businesses and
consumers can look forward to using Chinese characters in their website
address to better reach their customers or friends who prefer Chinese
web addresses.
This opens up new options for domain names, as anyone can soon register
addresses such as .sg so that their target market or audience can
better identify with them. SGNIC will offer these Chinese domain names
at both 2nd and 3rd levels in all categories (namely, .sg, .com.sg,
.gov.sg, .org.sg, .edu.sg, .net.sg, .per.sg). For instance, a 2nd level
domain name would be .sg, while a 3rd level domain name would read as
.com.sg.
The launch will take place in the following phases:
- Phase #1: Government Applications 23 Nov 2009 - 31 Dec 2009
- Phase #2: Trademark Owners Applications 7 Jan 2010 - 18 Feb 2010
- Sunrise: 25 Mar 2010 - 6 May 2010
- General Launch: 10 June 2010 onwards.
"SGNIC hopes to give users greater choices and also add to the range of
domain names available here," said Lim Choon Sai, SGNIC's general
manager.
"We believe this is timely given the growing interest, especially among
businesses here, to reach the Chinese markets, which may feel more
comfortable using their own language."
Registrations can be made with any of SGNIC's participating accredited registrars such as EuroDNS and are available in all the domain name categories, namely .sg, .com.sg, .org.sg, .net.sg, .edu.sg, .gov.sg, .per.sg.
Registrations are subject to the "SGNIC Chinese Domain Names (CDNs)
Launch Guidelines" which prescribes policies and procedures concerning
applications during the various phases, priority claims, biddings and
other general implementation details.
Applications during the first three phases will be on batch-processing
for each phase while applications for the General Launch will be on a
first-come-first-served basis. Please refer to the launch schedule and
relevant documents below for more details.
Launch Schedule
Milestones Duration Activities Phase 1: Government Applications 9:00am 23 Nov 09 to 12:00pm 31 Dec 09 Acceptance of applications from government agencies. Names will be processed as a batch. 5:00pm 6 Jan 10 Batch Activation of all names registered during Phase 1. Phase 2: Trademark Owners Applications 9:00am 7 Jan 10 to 5:00pm 18 Feb 10 Acceptance
of applications from trademark owners. Bidding will ensue if there are
multiple applications for the same domain name. Names will be processed
as a batch. 5:00pm 24 Mar 10 Batch Activation of all names registered during Phase 2. Sunrise 9:00am 7 Jan 10 to 5:00pm 18 Feb 10 Acceptance
of applications from trademark owners. Bidding will ensue if there are
multiple applications for the same domain name. Names will be processed
as a batch. 5:00pm 24 Mar 10 Batch Activation of all names registered during Phase 2. General Launch 10 Jun 10 Acceptance of applications from all entities on a first-come-first-served basis. There will be no priority fee imposed.