Thread: India & domain names

Story

The low penetration of domain names in India is opening opportunities for registrars as well (these are companies that delegate domain names and are accredited by the ICANN). “We believe over a period of time, even in India, the domain name penetration would rise, since the number of people with internet access is also expected to rise. We think India represents a $100-million (Rs 450 crore) market opportunity and is growing at 25 per cent annually,� Shashank Mehrotra, director (strategy and business development), Directi.
Manish Dalal, vice-president, Asia Pacific, VeriSign, says, “India has 30 million small- and medium-sized enterprises and only two million domain names. Having a presence on the web can enhance a firm’s business opportunity. We have seen the change in the business prospects of a business because of a dedicated domain and web presence.� For Rs 2,000, an individual can get a domain name and a website.

Very on point.Demand for .in domain names WILL increase, no doubt about it.

It sure is going to rise, a great place to invest in domains for the future!

why would the future for .in be any different than the present for .ca and .us or any other country domains?

Originally Posted by chaudi

why would the future for .in be any different than the present for .ca and .us or any other country domains?

1 word for you- Prospects.

.us renewal fees are higher than .coms and .ins and that is bad for a budding ccTLD. Also, .us is limited by ownership laws while .in is global. THis makes a huge difference. .IN is open to just about anyone,while .us is not. Even many .us end users own .coms for their domains.India is going to put 300M online in the next 4-5 years. How many will the US?Point is that India is in solid growth phase now and it won't stop for the foreseable future. As for .ca, it hasn't been considered mainstream or very serious for several years now,so i dont' see why .ins won't outdo it in the long run. .IN will have stronger growth while the likes of .ca will have good sales, but lower volume,which ends up casting a mundane shadow on the TLD IMO.Besides, North America went with .com!!! India is going to give .in a home, and in such a huge country wtih potential, that might almost be priceless.Dollar for dollar, .in is a good investment in the domain industry. Its not that hard to see.

Originally Posted by warbux

.us renewal fees are higher than .coms

No, they're not... Only Godaddy charges that ridiculous $20 renewal rate.
I think I'm paying something like $7.39 at Moniker.

Originally Posted by chaudi

why would the future for .in be any different than the present for .ca and .us or any other country domains?

First off, .ca and .us are not like "any other country domains".
The North American continent was the chief developer and earliest adopter of commercial internet, thus, .com plays an impermeable role in the minds of our consumers.

Only now is .ca starting to really hit its stride... The future for .us is up in the air, but personally speaking, I am lightly invested in it. I'm starting to see them used locally more and more, but less generics (that are domainers are apt to own), more "brand'" type stuff (JoesAutoRepair.us).

Countries like the UK, Germany, France, Italy- most of Europe- are all heavy ccTLD users. There is nothing to suggest that India will be any different. The reason .us has languished is because the US was first on board commercial internet around 1995, while our ccTLD wasn't even publicly available until 7 years later (April 24, 2002) By that time, the minds of US consumers had been set in stone- and there was no room for anything other than .com.

As far as the future of .in domains, there's no telling how that washes out. By speculating on them, you're placing a bet that the digital economy in India will eventually mature, the middle and upper classes continue to grow and attain meaningful spending power and the eBusinesses that service the Indian market will want generic keywords. India is a totally unique place, though, so who knows...

The only thing I'm certain about is that if you're investing in .in domains, be prepared to hold for the long haul. This means being very deliberate with a relentless eye towards quality and maintaining a nimble portfolio that you can continue to carry for a considerable period of time. Unfortunately, the "Indian Domainer Market" is incredibly soft, so don't expect any short-term liquidity there.

Also, don't expect the same pricing levels you see with 1st World ccTLDs.

I am in India right now..finding a lot more .in advertised, even by smaller companies. Lot more visible than a year ago.

I'd say hold for a while and .in could be the most valuable cctld out there. (sure I am adding my enthusiasm) but it is possible and the potential is there.

Considering how real estate in Indian cities have emerged in the last few years, if people realize domain names as virtual real estate, they will jump on it. Premium locations in Bombay, Delhi are going at New York prices or getting close. Its cheaper to buy a home in major US cities now than in some major indian cities. Land is premium.

From just 600 registered in 2005 to about a million .in names registered by Aug. 2011, the need to have a .in domain becomes all the more critical for the 30 million odd small and medium-sized business.

I am sure most of us could clearly see and feel the momentum building up for .in names especially from the sales (thanks to regular updates from DNJournal.Com) during the last one year.

Looking forward to some exciting times ahead :-)