.LONDON Set To Enter General Availability With 50,000 Registrations

It’s now just over one month until .london commences its General Availability and all indications are there will be more than 50,000 applications (there is likely to be more than one application for many domains) by the time Phase One, the London Priority Period for registered trademark holders and Londoners, ends on 31 July.General Availability commences on 9 September and there will be no restrictions on .london domains unlike most other regional and city gTLDs so it’s expected there will be huge demand.Phase One of the launch commenced on 29 May, which was the start of a three-month launch period during which Londoners and London-based businesses received priority in the application process. Those who have applied through the ICANN Trademark Clearinghouse will also be given priority. The launch period will close at the end of July.Gordon Innes, Chief Executive of London & Partners, the Mayor’s official promotional organisations for London said: “When we launched Dot London we wanted to ensure that Londoners had first choice of the new domain names. Two months into the priority period and it’s clear than many tens of thousands of Londoners have already taken advantage. I would urge anyone in London who’s considering a Dot London domain name to take advantage of the last few weeks of the priority period and secure their chosen domain name before someone else does.”A number of leading London businesses have already set up Dot London websites as part of a pioneer programme to showcase the new domain. They include brands such as: London Symphony Orchestra, Nimax Theatres, Fortnum & Mason, Techhub, Metro Bank and Meantime Brewing, with many of these having their .london pioneer websites live.One registrant, Meantime Brewery, is celebrating its role as a Dot London pioneer by releasing 100,000 bottles of limited edition Dot London lager.”It’s been really important for us to be part of Dot London. Our roots are here in the capital but we now export to dozens of countries all over the world and having a Dot London website means our customers can see that we are part of this great city,” said Nick Miller, Chief Executive of Meantime Brewing. “It makes sense to me that London businesses should have a website that is inherently part of the city where they’re based and do business.”