The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has begun the second phase of its marketing campaign to encourage the registration of .AE, the ccTLD for the United Arab Emirates, domain names.

The main objective of the campaign is to target new businesses that have yet to register a domain name and also existing organizations and businesses that have a web presence but have not registered for a .AE domain name.

By the end of 2009, it is hoped there will be an additional 20,000 .AE domain names registered as a result of the campaign. There are currently approximately 90,000 .AE domain names registered.

“In the period [August 2008 to August 2009], the number of new registrations increased by 30 per cent compared to the corresponding period the year before. There are more registrars [no monopoly] providing .AE domain name registration. Customers have the choice to select their registrar as competition leads to better service. The registration process brought online has also made it easier,” said TRA

The campaign highlights the importance of registering and using .AE domain names by all public and private entities operating in UAE or having a relationship with UAE. If an internet address has .AE at the end of it, its registered in the United Arab Emirates and a part of the .AE domain space regulated by the .aeDA.

In his comments, H.E. Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General, said: We encourage all companies and entities in UAE to move to .AE as it truly represents their UAE identity on the Internet.

Al Ghanim added: “Through the introduction of .aeDA, we streamlined and automated the entire registration process and brought on multiple new accredited Registrars for better pricing, services and access. We also made changes to increase .AE openness and accessibility while retaining the strong moral and cultural identity of the UAE. Our new campaign is aimed at promoting the .AE domain so that it becomes the domain of choice for all users willing to showcase a UAE presence on the World Wide Web.”

“There are many rational benefits to have a .AE domain name,” said Mohammed Gheyath, Executive Director/ Technology Development Affairs. “It allows you to protect your web space, access the name you want for your domain name, and signal to your customers where your business is located. It is worth mentioning that .com is a saturated namespace and has already 80 million registered domain names compared to around 90 thousands registered .AE domain names.

“This would make the chance of getting good and catchy names under .AE much higher than .com But one of main emotional reasons is national pride. The UAE has an excellent local, regional, and global representation as an economic powerhouse and an ultra-modern nation. Having a .AE address is a big business tool that lets the company develop a unique national identity that positively communicates that the company is based in the UAE. An example of countries where the use of ccTLD dominates the use of .com is Germany. Almost all German websites uses .de as they consider it a national pride.”

To register your .AE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.