– more than double the number of domain names in 4 years –
The number of .be domain names has risen appreciably over the past year. At the turn of the year, there were 859,474 domain names registered with the not-for-profit organisation DNS BE, which is the official control body for .be domain names. Thatâs an increase of 16.7% compared with 2007, when there were 736,498 domain names registered.
Marc Van Wesemael, Director of DNS BE:
“These figures illustrate continued growth for the .be domain. We have by no means reached the peak, but we are seeing that net growth is not as high as it has been in previous years. Growth in the overall number of domain names was 16.7%, which is somewhat lower than in 2007 when there were 22% more domain names compared with 2006. We expect to see this trend continue in 2009, although to a lesser extent.”
Record number of new domain names
A record number of new .be domain names were registered for the sixth year in a row â this time another 222,915. Thatâs 15% more than in 2007, when 193,648 new domain names were registered.
Growing interest from private individuals
Companies still represent the bulk of domain names, but interest from private individuals is growing with each passing year. In 2008, 242,525 domain names were registered for private individuals. That is 28% of the total number and a touch more than 2007 (27.4%) and 2006 (26.8%).
“The interest shown by private individuals for having their own domain name is growing every year. This is a positive flow-on from the increase in Internet penetration and the attention being paid to IT and telecommunications by secondary and higher education. We expect this figure to continue growing in the years ahead. Another factor is the ease and speed with which a .be domain name can be registered â plus our prices are significantly lower than in other European countries.”
.be principally remains a business for Belgians
The majority of domain names (599,638 or 70%) continue to be registered by Belgians. Regional distribution also remained virtually unchanged in 2008. Out of all the domain names registered by Belgians, there were:
- 69% registered by Flemings (a slight fall of 0.15%)
- 17% registered by Walloons (a slight rise of 0.51%)
- 14% registered by people living in Brussels (a slight fall of 0.36%)
16 registrars hold more than half of all .be domain names in their portfolio
Only official registrars are permitted to register domain names with DNS BE. Last year, there were around 450 of them. Half of all .be domain names are managed by the 16 biggest registrars.
“This clearly demonstrates the move towards consolidation that has been occurring for a number of years now. The 10 biggest registrars manage 40% of all .be domain names. The Top 5 handle over a quarter of the total number. There are four foreign registrars in the Top 10, with three in the Top 5.”
About DNS BE
DNS registers and manages all “.be” domain names, as well as the name servers (a network of computers which ensure that all computers connected to the Internet can be identified by way of a domain name). It is DNS BEâs job to ensure that this network is available at all times. DNS BE was established in February 1999 by ISPA Belgium (Internet Service Providers Association), Agoria and Beltug (Belgian Communications Technology User Group)
A pdf version can be found here.
This news release was sourced from the DNS Belgium website at dns.be/en/home.php?n=429.
To register your .be domain name, check out Europe Registry here.