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.
