Vietnamese internet users in rural areas have taken to the Vietnamese language internationalised domain name, making up a large proportion of the 320,000 Vietnamese language domains that have been registered since 28 April.

“Internet users in rural areas were especially fond of using Vietnamese-language domain names since they used Vietnamese almost exclusively on the internet. The meaning of Vietnamese domain names was also clearer and more understandable to Vietnamese users,” said Tran Minh Tan, deputy director of the VNNIC, part of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

“The Vietnamese IDNs represent a concerted effort on the part of VNNIC and Dot VN to reach the whole of the Vietnamese population and not just those that reside in major cities. While many online services have focused almost exclusively on urban users in major cities, those users represent but a small fraction of the over 89 million people that make up the population of Vietnam.” said Dot VN President Lee Johnson.

“We hope to be a leader in the development of services for the as yet underserved majority of existing and potential internet users. The Vietnamese IDN resonates with the whole of Vietnamese Society in a fundamental way and engages Vietnamese users in their native speech in a way that is far superior to standard Vietnamese domain names. We believe that it is this connection that will allow us to reach countless millions of new Vietnamese users with a depth and scope not yet achieved through the power of their native language. As VNNIC’s partner in the IDN project we will continue to dedicate ourselves to reaching all corners of Vietnam from the cities to the fields with the very best products and services.”

Up until early this year, there were strict limitations on the allocation of .VN domain names. But on 10 January the regulations changed. To assist on their uptake, .VN domains are allocated to Vietnamese and foreign organisations and individuals on a first-come, first-served basis according to VNS report. The allocation of free .VN domains commenced on 28 April.

To register your .VN domain name, check out Europe Registry here, although more information on .VN domains is available from dotVN here.