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Since the news of the launch of the sunrise period of the .emarat Arabic IDN on 10/10/2010, the aeDA has updated its website with all the accredited registrars that now have a license to operate in the .emarat IDN name space.

As of the date of this post, there is a total of 6 registrars that are accredited for both the .ae and .emarat out of the total of 14 registrars globally.

This shows high interest from both the registrars to enter into the new market and from their potential clients who seek to reserve their .emarat domain names immediately.

The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced today the opening of Sunrise Period for the Arabic top-level domain name (dotEmarat) for trademarks. The application process will last for two months starting from October 17 until December 15, 2010. The application process will be available through TRA accredited registrars.
The Arabic top-level domain name opens new doors for trademarks to communicate with a wide user segment that was reluctant to use the Internet because of the language barrier. It establishes a communication bridge through which businesses can deliver their messages and offer their services for that particular segment. Companies can use the Arabic domain name in advertisement campaigns that specifically target Arab audience. (dotEmarat) is still a spacious and wide market where companies can reserve distinct domain names that completely reflect their services and activities, unlike the familiar domain names where it is difficult to find suitable names.
H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General said: “The Arabic top-level domain (dotEmarat) presents a unique opportunity for companies looking to expand its customer base. Ownership of such domains will secure intellectual property rights related to the name and opens vast opportunities for more companies to take advantage of the Arabic names for their brands.”
“The volume of Arabic content on the Internet is huge, but inability to write domain addresses in Arabic alphabets constituted a barrier for a large segment of Arab users. This was the main driver that sparked the adoption of the idea to present Arabic top-level domain names,” he added.
Another advantage of the domain name (dotEmarat) is eliminating the need of transliterating Arabic words in English alphabets. Additionally, users of (dotEmarat) can easily type Arabic names in full and without substituting some of the Arabic letters that cannot be pronounced correctly with numbers. Thus, TRA was keen to create an online environment where users can count entirely on Arabic without using Latin letters.
The TRA has accredited many registrars to facilitate the application process for their Arabic domain names. Companies keen to apply for Arabic domain names can view a complete list of registrars by following the link registrars.aeda.ae. Comprehensive information about the Arabic top-level domain name (dotEmarat) is available at: policy.aeda.ae
The Domain Administration, one of the TRA initiatives, is responsible for Arabic top-level domain names (dotEmarat) and the national domain name (.ae), both in technical or legislative aspects. The first phase of launching the Arabic domain name was fully dedicated to the federal bodies and government departments, where it witnessed huge response. This reflects a clear desire by all entities in the government sector to use an Arabic domain name.

The ae domain name administration (aeDA) has recently launched a new website located at http://عربي.امارات/ This is the UAE’s internationalized domain name (IDN) .emarat that has been recently approved by the ICANN as a part of the IDN launch including the Russian and Chinese IDNs.

The website http://عربي.امارات/ which is currently an Arabic version only contains information for the public about the upcoming regulations and conditions governing the new domain name in Arabic.

As for the registration dates, which are at most importance to the domaining industry, the registry has followed a similar move like other registries and is offering the .emarat IDN in 4 different phases:

Phase 1:
Known as the Government Phase
Registration opened: 30/May/2010
Registration through the aeDA only.
Eligibility: All government entities in the UAE are applicable to apply and it has been also heard that the aeDA has made it mandatory for every government body to have thier .emarat domain registration and working.

Phase 2:
Trademark owners
Registration: 27/Sept/2010
Eligibility: Holders of trademarks (company registrations) in the UAE and GCC.
Registration through aeDA accredited registrars.

Note: There will be a separate accreditation process for new and existing registrars to operate in the .emarat zone.

Phase 3:
Exclusive and Special Names
Registration: 15/Nov/2010 through aeDA accredited registrars.
Eligibility: Everyone
Domain names that are requested by more than one party will be auctioned.

Phase 4:
Registration: 11/Dec/2010
Eligibility: Everyone, first come first served basis through aeDA accredited registrars.

This said, mark your calendars and prepare for which ever phase you are interested in to get your exclusive names before everyone else.

The Government of Dubai Media Office has announced the launch of the Arabic domain name of the website of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai.

The move follows a historic breakthrough after the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority won approval from the Internet Corporation Assigned for Names and Numbers (ICCAN) to use the internet domain in Arabic, placing the UAE among the first four countries in the world to register domain names in their official languages and not in Roman script.

Sheikh Mohammed’s website can now be reached through either of the following addresses when typed in Arabic script: “sheikh-mohammed-bin-rashid.emarat” or “mohammed-bin-rashid.emarat”, newswire WAM reported on Saturday.

The Government of Dubai Media Office has announced the launch of the Arabic domain name of the website of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai.

The move follows a historic breakthrough after the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority won approval from the Internet Corporation Assigned for Names and Numbers (ICCAN) to use the internet domain in Arabic, placing the UAE among the first four countries in the world to register domain names in their official languages and not in Roman script.

Sheikh Mohammed’s website can now be reached through either of the following addresses when typed in Arabic script: “sheikh-mohammed-bin-rashid.emarat” or “mohammed-bin-rashid.emarat”, newswire WAM reported on Saturday.

The Government of Dubai Media Office said that this remarkable achievement reflects Sheikh Mohammed’s keenness to promote the Arabic language, and reaffirms the UAE’s deep-rooted Arab identity.

With a substantial increase in the number of internet users in the region, Arabic domain names will allow a greater audience of Arabs to access information online, WAM said.

Emphasising the importance of the Arabic language as a key symbol of national identity, the UAE government decided in March 2009 to authorise Arabic as the official language at all federal institutions and entities, it added.

Available in both Arabic and English, Sheikh Mohammed’s official website is the leading source of news and information about his activities, with an archive of more than 30,000 articles, 18,000 photographs and 1,500 video clips.

The latest figures put the number of visitors to the site at about 85,000 per month, at a rate of 3,000 hits per day. Since its launch, the site has received 180,000 e-mails and over 7,000 visitors have left messages on the guestbook, according to WAM.

Source

We had a word with Mr. James Alexander from AEserver.com (Engage.ae LLC) (one of first aeDA accredited registrar) about their visit to the press conference held at the Emirates Palace hotel in the capital city of Abu Dhabi. It was held on Wednesday May 26, 2010.

It has been mentioned that the conference went smoothly and many top management level people from the leading aeDA accredited registrars and also the representatives from ICANN and AUSREGISTRY were present.

Check out the pics below.

The ae domain name administration (aeDA) under the TRA of the UAE is hosting a press conference for the launch of the .emarat arabic .امارت international domain name in the UAE.

The event will take place in one of the most prestigious and luxurious hotels in the world, the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday May 26th.

The United Arab Emirates has gone live with its first web address entirely in Arabic.

The website of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, launched by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has the Arabic equivalent of ‘khalifa.emarat’ as its URL.

It was launched in cooperation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE and the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, following ICANN’s decision to liberate the Internet by ending the exclusive use of Latin characters in addresses and allowing countries around the world to register Internet domains in their mother tongue.

The Ministry of Presidential Affairs says the new domain “reflects UAE’s pride in Arabic language due to its role in the Arab culture”, according to a WAM report.

Source

There hasn’t been any new developments or newly entered registrars since the beginning of the new year 2010.

However the most anticipated and awaited addition this year (which is most likely to happen in Q2 2010) is the launch of the .emarat IDN in the UAE internet domain.

The UAE’s telecoms regulator has reserved the domain name www.burjkhalifa.ae for use to promote the world’s tallest building online after reports that the .com version had already been snapped up by a domain name squatter.

The official website for the tower was initially launched last week under its previous name – www.burjdubai.com – but officials have said they now have an alternative.

Mohammed Gheyath, executive director of the Technology Development Affairs at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, confirmed that the domain name burjkhalifa.ae had been secured but did not say when it would be put live.

Gheyath said in comments published by news agency WAM that reserving the domain name “came to protect the rights of the authorised entity entitled to this domain, protect the intellectual property rights, and safeguard the domain from cybersquatters”.

He said the move by TRA to secure a .ae domain name was aimed at encouraging the use of the .ae domain name space.

In October, the TRA said it was targeting new UAE businesses in the second phase of its campaign to increase the number of .ae websites.

The main objective of the campaign is to target new businesses that have yet to register a domain name and also existing organisations who have not registered for a .ae domain name, the TRA said.

Up to August 2009, the number of new registrations increased by 30 percent up to 90,000 .ae websites registered, compared to about 80 million .com websites.

As part of its strategy to support and enhance Arabic content on the Internet, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced its plan to launch .emarat (.امارات). This step has been made under the new directions of ICANN, the international corporation responsible for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses, which allows the use of languages other than English as an equivalent to the domain names for countries.

“.emarat” is the Arabic equivalent for the currently used domain name “.ae”. The Ministerial Council for Services has previously approved the usage of “.emarat” as a domain name for UAE in Arabic.

In his comments, H.E. Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General, said: “Our objective is to support Arabic content over the internet and build a strong identity for UAE and Arab countries across the World Wide Web. We encourage all companies and entities in the UAE to register for ‘.ae’ and Name (.امارات) ‘.emarat’ as it represents their local business identity and brings their country pride.”

Using an Arabic domain name would expand the number of Internet users and enhance the Arabic identity of UAE and increase the contribution to the Arabic content available on the Internet. The .ae Domain Administration of TRA has updated its systems to support domain name registration in Arabic.

Mohammed Gheyath, Executive Director, Technology Development Affairs, said: “Our Systems have been upgraded to handle the registration of .emarat, the Arabic domain name of UAE Our goal is to become the first Arab country to introduce an Arabic domain name.”

Gheyath added, “Introducing a new TLD will lead to acquiring several unique web addresses that attracts website owners and Internet users. Moreover, using the Arabic language in internet addresses is a new and unique experience. The launch of registration for the Arabic domain .emarat (.امارات) is expected in the Q2 2010.”
A few days after this press release the UAE business daily Business 24/7 has published an article stating that applications for .emarat will open at the end of April 2010.

The .ae Domain Administration (.aeDA) of the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced a new initiative to donate 50 distinguished Emirati websites, national domains under .ae for a whole year free of charge to encourage them to use the UAE national domain name (.ae) and to highlight their Emirati identity on the Internet.
The agreement was between the TRA and the Emirates Internet Group (EIG) for the .aeDA to cover the fees of registering 50 UAE websites under the national domain name (.ae) for a year, where the EIG chooses the websites that the conditions of the donation apply upon.
To this end, H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General, stated: “Committed to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and in support to young Emirati websites, the TRA has decided to award these websites via granting them the registration of the national domain (.ae) for a year, where the EIG will place the standards of choosing the websites on which the conditions of these standards apply upon.” “The purpose of this donation is to encourage all companies and individuals in the UAE to use the national domain name (.ae), since it represents the UAE identity on the Internet,” added Al Ghanim.
In his turn, Mr. Khalid Bin Thani, EIG President and President of the Arab Union of Internet Societies, said: “It is our pleasure to do this task to serve the UAE national domain name in order to enhance the UAE name on the Internet.” “There are many benefits in using the UAE national domain name (.ae) in comparison to other domain names, especially highlighting the UAE identity on the Internet and the availability of a large number of attractive names under (.ae), which are nearly impossible to acquire under other domain names such as (.com),” added Bin Thani.
“The standards on which the donation will be granted to chosen websites are in two categories: for the existing websites that wish to convert from (.com) to (.ae), and for the young males and females that wish to establish new websites; where the theme and the goals of the website will be taken into consideration upon choosing,” concluded Bin Thani.

As part of its strategy to support and enhance Arabic content on the Internet, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced its plan to launch .emarat .امارات)). This step has been made under the new directions of ICANN — the international corporation responsible for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses, which allows the use of languages other than English as an equivalent to the domain names for countries.

“.emarat” is the Arabic equivalent for the currently used domain name “.ae”. The Ministerial Council for Services has previously approved the usage of “.emarat” as a domain name for UAE in Arabic.

In his comments, H.E. Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General, said: “Our objective is to support Arabic content over the internet and build a strong identity for UAE and Arab countries across the World Wide Web. We encourage all companies and entities in the UAE to register for ‘.ae’ and Name .امارات)) ‘.emarat’ as it represents their local business identity and brings their country pride.”

Using an Arabic domain name would expand the number of Internet users and enhance the Arabic identity of UAE and increase the contribution to the Arabic content available on the Internet. The .ae Domain Administration of TRA has updated its systems to support domain name registration in Arabic.

Mohammed Gheyath, Executive Director, Technology Development Affairs, said: “Our Systems have been upgraded to handle the registration of .emarat, the Arabic domain name of UAE Our goal is to become the first Arab country to introduce an Arabic domain name.”

Gheyath added, “Introducing a new TLD will lead to acquiring several unique web addresses that attracts website owners and Internet users. Moreover, using the Arabic language in internet addresses is a new and unique experience. The launch of registration for the Arabic domain .emarat .امارات)) is expected in the Q2 2010.”

The ae domain administration (aeDA) a body under the UAE’s telecoms regulator authority (TRA) has launched a totally new and rebranded website which follows the themes of the current campaign that is help by the aeDA to increase the new domain name registrations under .ae and also to raise public awareness about the internet in the UAE and the cctld .ae and to further develop it into the society as the national internet pride. Way to go aeDA team!

P.S its really awesome to see the “if its in the UAE its gotta be .ae” banners all over Dubai, the earlier day I was driving in Dubai Media City and noticed the banners on all street poles and tunnels/flyovers. This is really interesting as the aeDA is promoting not only the .ae domain but also the accredited registrars that gain free audience from these banners. Once again things are being done in the UAE (Dubai) style, that is the ‘best” style.