Cost Of .UK Domains To Rise By 50 Percent

The cost of purchasing a .UK web domain is set to increase in order to combat rising administrative costs.

Nominet, the company in charge of the .UK domain registry, has announced that the wholesale price for .UK domains (including .uk, .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk addresses) will rise from £2.50 per year to £3.75 per year from March 1 2016.

The company say that the rise will help it provide a ‘first-class service’ for owners of .UK domains, adding that the wholesale cost of .UK domain names for registrations of two years or more has not changed since 1999.

Rising costs

“We’re committed to running a first class service for .UK registrants, including our renowned customer service, and we’re doing more than ever before to ensure the .UK space is a safe and trusted home for all,” said Russell Haworth, Nominet CEO.

“But costs have risen considerably since we last changed the price, and we need to compete in a promotion-driven industry.  We won’t compromise on the quality of our service or dial back our efforts to counter cyber-threats head on.  However, it’s important to us that .UK domains represent value for money as well as quality, and the price we have set reflects that.”

Nominet added that it is powerless to influence the retail prices for .UK domains, which are set by domain name registrars, but that as part of the company’s ongoing commercial strategy, pricing will now be reviewed annually.

The company launched the .UK domains last June, bringing the country up to date with many of our European neighbours, which had offered two-letter domains for several years.

However the launch was not without controversy, as a consultation period found that the launch of .uk was criticised by some, who argued it would create confusion and devalue the large existing body of domains ending in .co.uk.

As a result, Nominet is still giving all owners of .co.uk addresses the option of first refusal on the equivalent .uk address for a period of five years, during which time those addresses will be unavailable to the general public.

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