The RFT, issued today, covers the provision of services for 17 domains in the .au space. These include popular existing domains such as .com.au and .edu.au, plus eight new state domains like .nsw.au and .vic.au, which will be available by the end of the year.
There are presently more than 500,000 .au domains in existence, the vast majority being in the .com.au arena. The successful registry provider must deliver services in accordance with the designated purpose of each domain -- for example, the .gov.au domain is reserved for government bodies and the .com.au domain for commercial entities.
The new deal will take effect at the conclusion of the current four-year licence held by Melbourne-based domain wholesaler AusRegistry, a subsidiary of RegistrarsAsia. According to auDA, AusRegistry is not restricted from submitting a tender for renewal of its existing deal.
Applications must be submitted by 30 September with the new licence to take effect from 1 July next year.
