little question :
what makes you think .id.au is going to work ?
who would want to register a .id.au domain name ?
On what basis was this extension decided, what marketing value, what studies
? was it decided behind closed doors ( like the rest ) ? what about having
.aero.au or .museum.au next ?

I'd like to know please..


Ginger

-----Original Message-----
From: Marty Drill - Nexsta [mailto:marty§nexsta.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2002 6:18 PM
To: dns§lists.auda.org.au
Subject: RE: [DNS] registrars and resellers


Hey Kevin

I agree on some of these points.  Mainly that we cannot focus to much
attention on business or the greater public not placing much importance
on the registration of their domain names. Their focus is on their web
strategy of which their domain name is one component.  So yes, point
taken.

However, I do think that the market will continue to expand over time.
New 2LDs and a relaxing of the policy, will provide some increase in the
number of registrations. Though the land rush (if any) due to the
changes in policy will be short-lived due to the number of domains that
become available.  However, I am not sure that we will have several
million domain names registered, though it is conceivable that a 50%
increase is realised over the next 12 months. Which on current standing
equates to around 450,000 names.

If you do the math, this is a limited revenue base, though it would be
substantial if the industry consisted of only a couple of companies.
Though potentially (if accredited) the industry will consist of 10
Registrars and dozens of resellers. So the question still remains, whats
in it for the Registrars?

If Patrick's assumption of $99 per domain name bi-annually (2 years) is
taken as an example and we assume that 350,000 of the domain names are
..com.au (representing a 40% increase) then a total revenue of 35 million
dollars is secured over 2 years. With 10 players in the market, assume
for a second that this is divided equally, the Registrars would receive
$3.5 mil gross, over a 2 year period. Obviously this is not going to
happen as it would represent a 90% swing (including new registrations)
away from MIT. However it is food for thought. Clearly the wholesale
cost of the domain, systems and customer service need to be accounted
for in the gross revenue of each Registrar. This may possibly leave a
10% margin (if a price war doesn't ensue, it will be short lived due to
small margin).

A price war is not needed mainly due to the reason you have suggested.
Domains at $140 for two years is not that expensive.  Reducing the cost
by $20 or more (under ACCC rules, Registrars should not discuss actual
pricing in this forum) is not really going to make that much of a
difference to Registrants. It will help the market, though it won't be
the factor that increases the size of the market by a large degree ( ie
number of domains registered).

Marketing, education and changes in policy will. Id.au will have some
impact as it has some clear benefits to individuals. Rid the world of
hotmail addresses, I say.

The ability for companies to register multiple domain names be the
biggest area in .com.au increases.

At the end of the day, competition is good the Australian namespace and
that is good for all, even MIT.


Cheers

Marty

PS Don't be surprised if .biz.au is suggested as one of the new 2LD's.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Fleming [mailto:kevin§w617.com]
Sent: Sunday, 9 June 2002 12:48 PM
To: dns§lists.auda.org.au
Subject: RE: [DNS] registrars and resellers


I cannot see the domain industry growing significantly, even with lower
..com.au prices. The current price of $140 per two years is already too
low
to be a significant factor. What else can you do in a business that
costs
only $70 per year? The ISP hosting your web site costs at lot more than
that.

With competition, I'm sure that price will be lowered (possibly halved)
from
their current level, but it's not the cost of a domain that is the
limiting
factor.

When the rules are relaxed (changed) allowing multiple domains per
business
entity, this will expand the market. Additionally when (if) auDA allows
more
2TLDs, this will also expand the market. I don't want to preempt the
review.
No .biz.au though please !!

Of course .id.au will also have an impact - albeit shortlived. How many
derivations of jonathon-livingstone-seagull.id.au can be registered?

Once again, this is my own personal view.

Regards,
Kevin


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Patrick Corliss [mailto:patrick§quad.net.au]
> Sent: Sunday, 9 June 2002 7:58 AM
> To: Marty Drill - Nexsta
> Cc: [dns]
> Subject: Re: [DNS] registrars and resellers
>
>
> On Sat, 8 Jun 2002 13:27:10 +1000, Marty Drill  - Nexsta wrote:
>
> > Your assertion that there is not a lot of money in selling domain
names
> > in Australia is correct. With 10 players in the market, the
competition
> > will be high and the margins low.  With roughly 250,000 .com.au
names
> > registered at the moment and a total of up to 50,000 other au names;
> > conservatively you may suggest the numbers don't add up.
>
> Congratulations on being appointed a provisionally accredited
> registrar.  I
> wish you well in the new environment :)
>
> In relation to your first point, AusRegistry has already declared
> that they
> will market domain names across the board fairly vigorously to assist
> registrars.  It is very unlikely, imo, that the total numbers
> will stay low.
> It would be reasonable, in my view, to expect at least a couple of
million
> domain names in a population of nearly 20 million people and an
> untold number
> of corporations, charities and other entities.
>
> At present, many smaller organisations simply use their own ISP's
> services or,
> sometimes, a cheap global domain name.  I'd say with a lower
> price the market
> share in Australia will grow considerably.  One growth area is that of
> personal domain names.
>
> The current price of A$140 for com.au and net.au is way too high,
> especially
> if you have to register a business name first, and I'd expect the
> new regime
> to start with a price of $99 including GST and go lower as the
competition
> bites deeper.
>
> Of course, that's my own personal view.
>
> Best of luck !!
>
> Regards
> Patrick Corliss
> _________________________________________________________
> I'm on the Board of auDA (the .au country code).  Anything I write is
my
> own personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views
> of any body
> with which I am associated.  Please also note IANAL (I Am Not A
Lawyer).
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
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