The IEDR is the registry for .ie Internet domain names and maintains the database of .ie registered domain names.Today they announced that soon Irish businesses will be able to register two letter .ie for the first time.
From their blog:
Irish businesses will shortly be able to register two-letter .ie domain names for the first time, the IE Domain Registry (IEDR) announced today.
The move will allow for up to 676 possible two-letter domain name combinations, including hp.ie, pc.ie, hr.ie and aa.ie, amongst others. The exact release process and mechanism will be confirmed after a public consultation.
While many other international domain registries have allowed for one and two-letter domain names to be registered, like cd.com and ba.co.uk, this is the first time Irish companies will be able to register a one or two-letter .ie domain.
There is expected to be intense competition for some domain names. This will apply in the case of company abbreviations, particularly where these are shared by one or more companies, such as HP, BT or AA. Additionally more general two letter domain names which describe a specific type of business or service such as HR are also expected to be in demand.
In the UK, when its domain registry made one and two letter domain names available there, there was a lot of interest, with 3 million pounds (€4.1 million) raised through the auction process. In the UK, global companies such as Facebook snapped up the address fb.co.uk; Mercedes Benz acquired mb.co.uk and the clothing retailer H&M secured hm.co.uk.
In Ireland the arrival of two letter domains will also have a political dimension with party domain names like fg.ie, ff.ie or sf.ie all becoming available.
David Curtin, CEO of IEDR commenting on one and two letter domain names becoming available noted: “At IEDR we have been working for 15 years with Irish businesses, voluntary organisations and with individuals to help them register Irish internet domain names which are relevant to them or their business. Offering one and two letter domains is a welcome further extension of those services.’
Read the full release on IEDR.ie
