Surge in dot-ie registrations as businesses move online

THE NUMBER of dot-ie domain names registered last year continued to rise, as more people turned to online businesses in the recession.

Publishing its annual report yesterday, the IE Domain Registry, which administers the dot-ie domain, said Ireland was now on the same level as France and Italy in terms of number of domains registered per head of population.

“We’re mid-table,” said chief executive David Curtin.

Total dot-ie domains rose by 12.9 per cent year-on-year, even taking into account deletions and non-renewals, reaching 153,419.

A total of 36,587 new dot-ie domains were registered last year, slightly down on the 37,055 registered a year earlier. Some 19,071 were not renewed or were deleted, which could be attributed to companies closing down or consolidating.

The momentum in growth continued into this year, with more than 10,000 domains registered in the second quarter. Mr Curtin said anecdotal evidence showed part of the growth in registrations was due to new online businesses established by those made redundant.

“They’re starting small businesses, registering the domain and building the business online first,” he said. “Dot-ie is a local address for local people.”

Mr Curtin said the current initiatives from Google and other web companies intended to get more Irish businesses online had contributed to an increase in the number of people signing up for the web domains. In 2011, domain registrations have remained about 10,000 per quarter despite the ongoing economic difficulties.

In 2010, operating profit at domain registry increased by 50 per cent to €582,639. This included an exceptional once-off credit regarding previously accrued monitoring and framework costs with regulator ComReg.

Members funds rose to €2.9 million in the year. As the registry is a not-for-profit organisation, the additional funds will be used to invest in infrastructure and the dot-ie domain name system.

“That seems like a lot but it’s only 13 months’ fee income,” said Mr Curtin. “It also means we can continue to reduce prices,” he added.