Go-live for the new com.au, net.au, org.au and id.au registry was supposed to be at 10.00am this morning, but was pushed back until 10.10am because it took 15-20 minutes to start the system, according to Adrian Kinderis, managing director of AusRegistry.
"The accredited registrars that are on our Web site are all able to connect," Kinderis told ZDNet Australia.
However, many registrars are having trouble connecting to the system, with hundreds of people waiting for their registrations to go through.
Vic Cine, CEO of registrar Enetica, told ZDNet Australia it had been experiencing some technical difficulties, and weren't sure which side the problem was on. -There's been a bit of a flood too, which hasn't helped," he said. -We've got about 200 in the queue. It's not unexpected. It's a new system on both sides. Everything's working except the actual connection to the registry."
Larry Bloch, CEO of NetRegistry, told ZDNet Australia that it was live and could register domain names, but said he was not surprised by the problems.
-You've got to have a little bit of sympathy for everyone involved in this endeavour," Bloch said, -Everyone's enjoying a controlled chaos".
Those registrars unable to connect to AusRegistry could not say when the system would be up, only that they were working to get it running as soon as possible. A spokesperson for A1 Registrar said it expected the system to be up by midday, but couldn't guarantee that.
Once the problems are sorted out, the registrars believe the new system will be an improvement on the old one. Cine explained that they would be able to register in realtime, and confirmation of the domain name would be achieved within seconds.
Josh Rowe, editor of whatsinaname.com.au, a Web site comparing domain name registration prices for different registrars, similarly talks up the new system. -As far as pricing goes we're seeing drops of up to AU$80," he said.
NetRegistry hopes to seize the opportunity to increase market share at the expense of Melbourne IT. -For all companies other than Melbourne IT the drop of the purchase price from AU$100 to AU$50 will allow cheaper prices," Bloch said. -We see Melbourne IT as a target and we intend to get as much market share from them as possible. Melbourne IT is the fat monopoly that needs to be skimmed."
For its part, Melbourne IT is adopting a -steady as she goes" approach, and has kept prices the same at AU$140.
One registrar, NameScout, is offering com.au domains for less than half that.
Vivienne Fisher contributed to this story.
