Directi, Tucows and Namecheap form a "team of rivals" in bid to
manage the .online registry.
TORONTO,
March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - As part
of its New Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) program, ICANN has
accepted nearly 2,000 applications from prospective registries who
would like to manage their own TLDs (letters to the right of the
dot). Now, applicants for the same TLDs have begun to compete,
negotiate, and, in some cases, join forces to ultimately produce
one winning bid.
The first such alliance was revealed today, when domain industry
veterans Directi, Tucows and Namecheap announced that they would
work together to manage the .online registry.
Directi and Tucows are probably best known for their wholesale
platforms and the large, global domain name reseller channels they
manage. Namecheap, a top-ten retail registrar, is best known
for its strong consumer brand and emphasis on customer
service.
The three companies each bring significant capital to the table
to launch and operate the .online registry. They bring a wealth of
experience and capabilities, from registry management to wholesale
distribution to retail service. Perhaps most importantly, they
bring enormous global reach. Between their wholesale and retail
operations, Directi, Tucows and Namecheap combined reach over 40
million small businesses and other hosting customers around the
world.
"This partnership makes perfect sense for us and it makes
perfect sense for .online registrants," said Directi CEO &
Founder, Bhavin Turakhia, Tucows CEO
Elliot Noss and Namecheap CEO
Richard Kirkendall at the exact same
time, a powerful display of partnership and an impressive
achievement considering the time zone differences. The CEOs
continued, "Between the three of us and all our properties, we know
we can deliver an outstanding .online experience to resellers and
end users in every corner of the world."
About Directi
With over a decade in the internet industry, Directi is a $350m+
group of businesses, providing various web products and services to
millions of global users. Directi businesses include ResellerClub,
LogicBoxes, BigRock, Skenzo, Media.net and Radix Registry. Over
1000 employee strong, Directi currently has 5 offices across 4
countries. Directi businesses rank amongst the fastest growing
businesses worldwide in their corresponding industry segments. For
more information, please visit http://directi.com.
About Tucows
Tucows is a global Internet services company. OpenSRS
(http://opensrs.com) manages over fourteen million domain names and
millions of value-added services through a reseller network of over
13,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover (http://hover.com) is the easiest
way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain
names and email addresses. Ting.com (https://ting.com) is a mobile
phone service provider dedicated to bringing clarity and control to
US mobile phone users. YummyNames (http://yummynames.com) owns and
operates premium domain names that generate revenue through
advertising or resale. More information can be found on Tucows'
corporate website (http://tucows.com).
About Namecheap
Namecheap is a Los Angeles-based
ICANN accredited domain registrar founded in 2000 by CEO
Richard Kirkendall. With nearly 1
million satisfied clients and over 3 million domain names under
management, Namecheap is one of the top ten domain registrars in
the world. Find out more by visiting us
at http://www.namecheap.com.
SOURCE Tucows Inc.