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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Hey Muriuki,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>True, true... actually from the various challenges you've
listed affecting local ccTLD's uptake, the major one is
perception...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Added to this most hosting platforms out there (Where I
suppose over 80 % ) of our local content is hosted, notoriously
support</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>the gTLD's - unless you domain park. Infact a case in point is
a customer, who could not simply host a domain here because
a</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>unique set of supported Name Server features are unavailable
locally. To cut the long story short, they opt for a .com or .org,
but </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>either way, still </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>end up hosting
everything out there. Again it is also cheaper. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>It's a sum total
of factors..</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Both <STRONG>kenyaairways.com</STRONG> and
<STRONG>kenyaairways.co.ke</STRONG> are active, the websites on either domain
zero in on one..</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Harry</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=750300617-16032010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B>
kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] <B>On
Behalf Of </B>muriuki mureithi<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, March 16, 2010 5:48
PM<BR><B>To:</B> harry@comtelsys.co.ke<BR><B>Cc:</B> 'KICTAnet ICT Policy
Discussions'<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [kictanet] South Africans choose dot ZA
ahead of dot com,market survey reveals<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">Hi
Rad!. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"> A
workshop I facilitated at ICANN last week see <A
href="http://nbo.icann.org/node/9097">http://nbo.icann.org/node/9097</A>
painted a different picture . economics is just one of the many
reasons for low uptake of local domains. indeed in the case of the
.za , when the tariffs came down there was no corresponding increase in
.za. the same for Australia. what participants restated is
that this is multifaceted. It involves stability and
reliability , many of ccTLDs especially in Africa have problems some as
simple as lack of power, staff on strike over pay , poor marketing, outreach
etc. others have perception problems - that gTLD is better by being
international than local domain ( local is not as good as
international !!)and even more importantly that the government can tamper
with local domains etc . all these perceptions where prevalent contribute
to the low uptake of local domain names compared to gTLDs. Those who have
succeeded like .za is that they are able to differentiate the
product against gTLDs , add value by leveraging on the other national endeavours
, branding , trust and awareness . this is what other ccTLD are up to .it
is even more critical when new gTLD are approved by ICANN. And btw why is
kenya airways .com and not .ke . just imagine the leverage it can provide
----<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">Cheers
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">Muriuki
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; PADDING-LEFT: 0cm; PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt">
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"
lang=EN-US>From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" lang=EN-US>
kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Rad!<BR><B>Sent:</B> 16 March 2010 16:44<BR><B>To:</B>
mureithi@summitstrategies.co.ke<BR><B>Cc:</B> KICTAnet ICT Policy
Discussions<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [kictanet] South Africans choose dot ZA ahead
of dot com, market survey reveals<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Simple economics.<o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>A .<A href="http://co.ke">co.ke</A> domain is about 40
dollars<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>A .com domain is about 15 dollars<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>A .za domain is 150 rand, about 20 dollars - <A
href="http://www.your.co.za/">http://www.your.co.za/</A><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>5$ difference for South Africans vs 25$ for us? People
will invariably vote with their wallets<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal>These are the sort of questions
KENIC should be answering.<o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 4:28 PM, michael Ouma <<A
href="mailto:benomnta@yahoo.com">benomnta@yahoo.com</A>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><BR><BR>Hi all:<BR><BR>i think this is
interesting.<BR><BR>How about our own “.ke,” how do we fare as relates to being
patriotic and proud of our ‘own’? Please read below:<BR><BR><BR>South
Africans choose dot ZA ahead of dot com, market survey reveals<BR><BR>(also
follow via this link <A href="http://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/11791.html"
target=_blank>http://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/11791.html</A>)<BR><BR>The
recently completed “dot ZA market survey” of the dot ZA Domain Name Authority
(ZADNA) shows that South African businesses and people prefer to use <A
href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> to dot com.<BR><BR>This is the
result of an intensive market survey which began in November 2009 and involved
thousands of online and telephone interviews with .za domain name holders
(registrants), business people and non-profit entities. It was concluded in late
February this year.<BR><BR>ZADNA intended to use the survey to better understand
the dot ZA market and in particular to ascertain what improvements were needed
to make dot ZA more attractive and so better serve the interests of South
African organisations.<BR><BR>According to Vika Mpisane, the GM of ZADNA, “the
research results are very important as they provide answers to most of the
questions we and our stakeholders had about improving the .za space. These
answers clarify what interventions ZADNA or its stakeholders need to make to
improve ZADNA.”<BR><BR>What was very noticeable from the results is that 83% of
South African businesses choose to use <A href="http://co.za"
target=_blank>co.za</A> for their online presence. This effectively means only
around 15% of local businesses confirmed having dot Com website names. When
asked if they considered having both <A href="http://co.za"
target=_blank>co.za</A> and dot Com names was necessary, 58% of businesses
interviewed answered “yes”.<BR><BR>“This must be put into a correct perspective:
the perceived need for registering your product and brand names across multiple
domains results from the ever-increasing instances of trademark abuse online. To
counter the potential for such abuse, a growing number of local and
international businesses now register in as many domains as
possible.”<BR><BR>The survey also shows that dot Com still ranks better than the
rest of other dot ZA domains, such as <A href="http://org.za"
target=_blank>org.za</A> and <A href="http://gov.za" target=_blank>gov.za</A>.
This is understandable because the rest of dot ZA domains are more focused on a
smaller communities and sectors.<BR><BR>Providing an example, Mpisane said: “The
growth of <A href="http://gov.za" target=_blank>gov.za</A> will always be
limited as government and its organisations cannot be expected to grow as
radically as business organisations, plus some government entities, such as
parastatals and municipalities, register their website names in <A
href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> and dot Com, instead of
gov.za.”<BR><BR>What the survey results also show is that most South Africans
are patriotic and loyal to South Africa when they choose their online presence.
Fifty percent of the interviewees chose this as the main factor influencing
their choice, while affordability of dot ZA domain names came
second.<BR><BR>Pitting <A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> against
dot Com, 83% of the interviewees chose <A href="http://co.za"
target=_blank>co.za</A> ahead of dot Com as giving them superiority locally.
Co.za also outscored dot Com by a great margin when it comes to affordability of
registration – 93% chose <A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> here –
and 75% percent felt that <A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> gives
their business most online credibility. Probably as expected, dot Com outscored
<A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> when it comes to global
appeal.<BR><BR>Most Internet service providers (ISPs) and registrants felt that
the process of registering dot ZA domain names should be made easier by
automation.<BR><BR>“The need for more automation can never be over-emphasised,
and ZADNA will answer this through the licensing of dot ZA domain registries
(i.e. operators of domain name databases) and registrars (i.e. ISPs registering
domain names), and the introduction of a central registry that can standardise
such automation across most .za domains.”<BR><BR>The survey also tested South
Africans’ awareness of the new generic (i.e. non-country specific) domain names
that ICANN, the entity managing the global Internet domain name and IP numbering
systems, is planning to introduce in due course. Most South Africans are not
aware of such plans, but ISPs showed substantial awareness (at 44%), as expected
because they are the entities that sell domain name registration
services.<BR><BR>Interviewees were asked about introduction of new 2nd level
domains such as city or region-specific domains. When tested on this,
respondents felt that city-specific domains were not as attractive as they could
because of the potential for changing city and region names in South Africa.
There was also very little enthusiasm shown for registering names directly under
dot ZA (i.e. <A href="http://yourname.za" target=_blank>yourname.za</A> instead
of <A href="http://yourname.org.za" target=_blank>yourname.org.za</A>) and for
introducing <A href="http://biz.za" target=_blank>biz.za</A> to compete with <A
href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A>.<BR><BR>“The feeling is that
allowing registrations of names directly under dot ZA will lead to a potential
for abuse of trademarks and brands. It will lead to an unnecessary cost as a
result of putting measures in place to try and protect known brands, something
which sometimes may be quite a challenge to do”, says Mpisane.<BR><BR>What the
results showed was that <A href="http://mobi.za" target=_blank>mobi.za</A>, <A
href="http://fam.za" target=_blank>fam.za</A> (for families) and <A
href="http://shop.za" target=_blank>shop.za</A> (for retailers) were seen as
potentially the most attractive additional options. Music.za also showed support
by some.<BR><BR>In the light of attempts by some Western Internet companies to
apply to ICANN to open up new top level domains using local city names, such as
dot Joburg, dot Durban and dot Zulu, the respondents overwhelmingly felt that
South Africa did not need to have multiple identities online.<BR><BR>“ZADNA is
aware of frantic attempts by non-South African Internet companies to abuse local
city, heritage and tribal names as new top level domains. This survey shows that
not only are such attempts unfounded, but they go right against the feeling of
South Africans. South Africans are happy with dot ZA as their online identity.
Any attempts by non-South Africans to give us multiple online identities,
without support of the South African population, are baseless and driven by
greed and ambition for profit”, says Mpisane.<BR><BR>///<BR><BR><BR>The recently
completed “dot ZA market survey” of the dot ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA)
shows that South African businesses and people prefer to use <A
href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> to dot com.<BR><BR>This is the
result of an intensive market survey which began in November 2009 and involved
thousands of online and telephone interviews with .za domain name holders
(registrants), business people and non-profit entities. It was concluded in late
February this year.<BR><BR>ZADNA intended to use the survey to better understand
the dot ZA market and in particular to ascertain what improvements were needed
to make dot ZA more attractive and so better serve the interests of South
African organisations.<BR><BR>According to Vika Mpisane, the GM of ZADNA, “the
research results are very important as they provide answers to most of the
questions we and our stakeholders had about improving the .za space. These
answers clarify what interventions ZADNA or its stakeholders need to make to
improve ZADNA.”<BR><BR>What was very noticeable from the results is that 83% of
South African businesses choose to use <A href="http://co.za"
target=_blank>co.za</A> for their online presence. This effectively means only
around 15% of local businesses confirmed having dot Com website names. When
asked if they considered having both <A href="http://co.za"
target=_blank>co.za</A> and dot Com names was necessary, 58% of businesses
interviewed answered “yes”.<BR><BR>“This must be put into a correct perspective:
the perceived need for registering your product and brand names across multiple
domains results from the ever-increasing instances of trademark abuse online. To
counter the potential for such abuse, a growing number of local and
international businesses now register in as many domains as
possible.”<BR><BR>The survey also shows that dot Com still ranks better than the
rest of other dot ZA domains, such as <A href="http://org.za"
target=_blank>org.za</A> and <A href="http://gov.za" target=_blank>gov.za</A>.
This is understandable because the rest of dot ZA domains are more focused on a
smaller communities and sectors.<BR><BR>Providing an example, Mpisane said: “The
growth of <A href="http://gov.za" target=_blank>gov.za</A> will always be
limited as government and its organisations cannot be expected to grow as
radically as business organisations, plus some government entities, such as
parastatals and municipalities, register their website names in <A
href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> and dot Com, instead of
gov.za.”<BR><BR>What the survey results also show is that most South Africans
are patriotic and loyal to South Africa when they choose their online presence.
Fifty percent of the interviewees chose this as the main factor influencing
their choice, while affordability of dot ZA domain names came
second.<BR><BR>Pitting <A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> against
dot Com, 83% of the interviewees chose <A href="http://co.za"
target=_blank>co.za</A> ahead of dot Com as giving them superiority locally.
Co.za also outscored dot Com by a great margin when it comes to affordability of
registration – 93% chose <A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> here –
and 75% percent felt that <A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> gives
their business most online credibility. Probably as expected, dot Com outscored
<A href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A> when it comes to global
appeal.<BR><BR>Most Internet service providers (ISPs) and registrants felt that
the process of registering dot ZA domain names should be made easier by
automation.<BR><BR>“The need for more automation can never be over-emphasised,
and ZADNA will answer this through the licensing of dot ZA domain registries
(i.e. operators of domain name databases) and registrars (i.e. ISPs registering
domain names), and the introduction of a central registry that can standardise
such automation across most .za domains.”<BR><BR>The survey also tested South
Africans’ awareness of the new generic (i.e. non-country specific) domain names
that ICANN, the entity managing the global Internet domain name and IP numbering
systems, is planning to introduce in due course. Most South Africans are not
aware of such plans, but ISPs showed substantial awareness (at 44%), as expected
because they are the entities that sell domain name registration
services.<BR><BR>Interviewees were asked about introduction of new 2nd level
domains such as city or region-specific domains. When tested on this,
respondents felt that city-specific domains were not as attractive as they could
because of the potential for changing city and region names in South Africa.
There was also very little enthusiasm shown for registering names directly under
dot ZA (i.e. <A href="http://yourname.za" target=_blank>yourname.za</A> instead
of <A href="http://yourname.org.za" target=_blank>yourname.org.za</A>) and for
introducing <A href="http://biz.za" target=_blank>biz.za</A> to compete with <A
href="http://co.za" target=_blank>co.za</A>.<BR><BR>“The feeling is that
allowing registrations of names directly under dot ZA will lead to a potential
for abuse of trademarks and brands. It will lead to an unnecessary cost as a
result of putting measures in place to try and protect known brands, something
which sometimes may be quite a challenge to do”, says Mpisane.<BR><BR>What the
results showed was that <A href="http://mobi.za" target=_blank>mobi.za</A>, <A
href="http://fam.za" target=_blank>fam.za</A> (for families) and <A
href="http://shop.za" target=_blank>shop.za</A> (for retailers) were seen as
potentially the most attractive additional options. Music.za also showed support
by some.<BR><BR>In the light of attempts by some Western Internet companies to
apply to ICANN to open up new top level domains using local city names, such as
dot Joburg, dot Durban and dot Zulu, the respondents overwhelmingly felt that
South Africa did not need to have multiple identities online.<BR><BR>“ZADNA is
aware of frantic attempts by non-South African Internet companies to abuse local
city, heritage and tribal names as new top level domains. This survey shows that
not only are such attempts unfounded, but they go right against the feeling of
South Africans. South Africans are happy with dot ZA as their online identity.
Any attempts by non-South Africans to give us multiple online identities,
without support of the South African population, are baseless and driven by
greed and ambition for profit”, says Mpisane.<BR><BR>///<BR><BR><BR>Michael
Ouma<BR>Journalist<BR>Kenya<BR>Tel:+254-725-537823<BR><BR><BR>"Do not go where
the path may lead, but go instead where there is no path and leave a trail," -
Ralph Waldo
Emerson<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>kictanet
mailing list<BR><A
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