Administration of '.kg' ccTLD transferred to Kyrgyz IP Office

The transfer of the administration of the Kyrgyz Republic's country-code top-level domain (ccTLD), '.kg', to the Kyrgyz Intellectual Property Office has been made official.

On June 10 2009 the office and AsiaInfo, a local communication company, signed a protocol of intentions under which the administration of the '.kg' domain will be transferred from AsiaInfo to the office.

The document was submitted to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to confirm the transfer of administrative rights. The '.kg' ccTLD should be transferred to the office no later than two months after ICANN’s decision.

The main motivation behind the transfer is to end AsiaInfo’s monopoly and reduce the high registration fees, which slow the growth of national websites. The transfer should promote the development of a competitive market for domain name registrars in the Kyrgyz Republic.

AsiaInfo has been the sole registrar of the '.kg' ccTLD for 14 years. It was granted this right by ICANN on July 12 1995.

At the beginning of 2009 the office and AsiaInfo negotiated a reduction of the one-year registration fee from $100 to $60, but this still proved too high for many website owners.

Accordingly, on April 7 2009 the Kyrgyz president issued a decree authorizing the transfer of the '.kg' ccTLD to the office (for further details please see "Kyrgyz IP Office to administer '.kg' ccTLD"). The office is expected to reduce the registration fees to between $15 and $20.

Jovana Miocinovic, Petoševic, Belgrade

Administration of '.kg' ccTLD transferred to Kyrgyz IP Office

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