[AfrICANN-discuss] [***SPAM***] Africa and new gTLD?

[McTim]

On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 3:16 AM, Vika Mpisane <vika at zadna.org.za> wrote:

> Allow me to take a quick stab at your question, Remmy.
>
> Yes, 17 gTLD applications from Africa is really not good, but is still
> linked to the growth of domain name industry in Africa, which is still
> substantially behind that of other regions. For example, we have 5 or 6
> ICANN accredited registrars in the region. My limited experience on new
> gTLDs showed that ICANN accredited registrars played an important role in
> advising corporates to look at new gTLD possibilities. So in Africa, having
> 5 accredited registrars could be one of the reason for the existing lack of
> awareness on gTLDs.
>
> Yet the fact that some of the African applications are from corporates
> shows some of the "registrars" (ICANN accredited or not) did educate some
> corporates. That's nice to see.
>
> I personally think the 17 applications are quite credible & give us a bit
> of a slice of the new gTLD market. What is not nice, though, is the fact
> that a substantial number of these 17 applications have non-African
> registry operators. That's where we're missing out on an opportunity to
> prove the resiliency of the African registry infrastructure & to develop
> registry management skills.
>

+1

I also like John Levine's reply about this topic on another list:

"A reasonable interpretation of the lack of African applicants is that
people looked at the substantial cost and dubious benefits of a vanity TLD
and everyone who wasn't already drunk on ICANN kool-aid came to a rational
decision that their limited funds would better be spent elsewhere. "


-- 
Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route
indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel
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