AusRegistry executives claimed the number of registered dot-au domain names had risen steadily from July to reach 310,733 by the end of 2002, whereas the number of registrations and renewals of the dot-com domain was actually declining.
The number of dot-au domain names registered rose from 282,632 in July to 310,733 in December 2002, an overall rise of nine percent. The report is the first of a monthly general report that AusRegistry plans to release detailing activity within the Australian domain name space, and begins at July 2002, when AusRegistry took over the running of the Australian registry.
Adrian Kinderis, the managing director of sales and marketing for AusRegistry, told ZDNet Australia the fact the dot-au domain numbers were still increasing was impressive considering the number of other top-level domain names - such as dot-com - in use was contracting.
"Dot-au is growing bigger than it ever has," he said. "People accept au really easily in Australia." He said AusRegistry is planning a marketing push to promote dot-au domains in Australia.
The most popular Australian top-level domain is .com.au, which comprises 90 percent of all Australian domain names. This is followed by .net.au with 5.1 percent, and .org.au with 3.6 percent.
The report also reveals that over 85 percent of the market share in dot-au is held by four registrars.
