Network Solutions Inc will launch its Dot Com Directory product in the UK, France Germany next year, a move designed to sharpen its competitive edge as a registrar and generate revenue from listings. The market for registration of the .com, .org and .net domains was opened to competition on November 5, prompting NSI to launch the free to use Dot Com Directory of all companies registered under its auspices. The Directory currently lists some two million US and Canadian registerees, and will add European companies next year.
Those North American companies registered prior to the directory’s creation are on automatically, while new entrants get a registration and a listing bundled into the same price, which varies between $70 and $120, said Phil Callan, NSI’s EMEA managing director. If, on the other hand, a company registers a .com, .org or .net domain with a competitor, they’ll have to pay another $70 to get in the directory, he said.
In addition to rolling Dot Com Directory out across Europe and, across the Asia-Pacific next year, NSI also has plans to offer more extensive listings, including map-based information, company overviews, news headlines and financial data.
