Successful Tenderer For .SYDNEY, .MELBOURNE Bids Expected Soon

An announcement is expected within the next week of the successful tenderer to assist with the application and run the registry for the .SYDNEY and .MELBOURNE gTLDs, The Australian newspaper reported today.The tender document, which was published in October 2011, said the Australian state governments of Victoria and New South Wales were seeking assistance in applying for the .SYDNEY, .MELBOURNE and possibly the .VICTORIA .NSW generic Top Level Domains.The application would see the cities, and potentially states, joining cities and regions around the world including Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Bavaria, Paris and London in applying for their own gTLDs.Tenders closed on 15 November and an announcement had been expected to be announced in late 2011. However time is of the essence with the three month application window closing on 12 April, while the deadline for applicants to register in the TLD Application System is 29 March.A spokesman for the NSW finance department told The Australian that the successful contractor would be announced within a week.The newspaper understands that the successful bidder has been chosen but NSW and Victoria were still finalising their requirements, but one of the requirements in the tender noted in The Australian was that the successful operator would also be required to pay state governments a flat fee of 20 per cent of any revenue it generates from the domains over $500,001.