Companies can now register multiple language character domains including Chinese, Japanese and Korean

NetNames, the UK's leading domain name management company, announced that it is to become one of the first registrars to enable businesses to register domain names in a host of new languages including Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Korean. NetNames will be offering new Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) allowing companies to more effectively target foreign markets online.

Over 60 per cent of Internet users do not have English as their first language and this percentage is likely to increase as the Internet extends to new markets and access increases in countries such as China. Until now the international Internet addressing system (Domain Name System) has only allowed for domain names containing the standard ASCII character set (a-z, 0-9) and the hyphen (-) to be registered. However ICANN, the global domain name governing body, has agreed on a new industry standard for the registration of domain names containing non ASCII characters. This move has created a trend for many of the major country code registries, such as .de in Germany, now opening up for IDN registrations. Currently NetNames offers IDN capability in over twenty of the major Top Level Domains worldwide. This list is set to grow as more and more country Registries update their systems to handle IDNs.

NetNames has established itself as an expert in managing and registering domain names for large corporates with over 300 companies using its outsourced domain name management service, Platinum Service. These include 25 FTSE 100 companies such as British Airways, Centrica and Hilton Group. NetNames will be providing registration of the new domains in all available characters, which depending on the suffix, can include: Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese or Korean, as well as all Latin characters, Cyrillic and Greek.

Many large corporations have already registered hundreds of domain names globally. The introduction of IDNs represents a valuable opportunity for multi-national organizations to purchase foreign language domain names that will be more recognizable and memorable to native speakers.

Jonathan Robinson, Director of Business Development at NetNames, explains: "Organizations who are currently operating in foreign markets, or who may have plans to do so in the future need to consider IDNs as an integral part of their overall domain name strategy. For the first time in the history of the Internet, companies can now easily and cost-effectively register domain names on a common standard in multiple languages making it easier for people to find their products and services online."

Robinson continued, "NetNames has a proven track record in registering and managing domain name portfolios globally and can offer companies expert advise on which domains they should own and where. We will be offering registration of IDNs at the same price as standard domains in each of the available suffixes through www.netnames.com."

About NetNames

NetNames is part of London listed company NetBenefit plc . Through its industry leading domain name management service, NetNames Platinum Service, the company is responsible for managing and protecting online brands for international corporates, including over 25% of the FTSE 100. Under the NetBenefit brand, the company provides domain names, website hosting and email services for small and medium sized enterprises (SME). NetNames is an ICANN Accredited Registrar with the ability to register domain names in all available suffixes worldwide. The company is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Nice and Milan. For further information, visit www.netnames.com.

Contact:

Rodger Armstrong of NetNames,
+44-7968-499-521

<a href="http://www.netnames.com/">www.netnames.com</a>