The ZA Central Registry (ZACR), South Africa’s .ZA domain administrator, has recently been approved as an official ICANN Registrar.
The California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) ensures the web operates efficiently and according to a specified naming and numbering regime.
ZACR’s new status means it can now sell any ICANN gTLD (generic Top Level Domain) direct to the end Internet consumer. ZACR now holds dual accreditation with ICANN as both a Registry and a Registrar.
Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) used in the Internet’s Domain Name System and examples include the well-known .com, .info, .net, and .org domains. Lesser-known variations include, for example, the domains .biz, .name, and .pro.
“ZACR’s approval as an ICANN-accredited Registrar will enable greater competition and accessibility within the SA and African domain name market, ultimately benefiting consumers through more affordable domain name pricing,” says ZACR CEO Lucky Masilela.
He adds that ZACR has now opened the doors for more SMEs to become resellers of gTLDs. “This is good news for the economy and for bridging the digital divide,” Masilela says.
While ZADNA (ZA Domain Name Authority) is responsible for regulating South Africa’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) of .ZA, ZACR is best-known as being responsible for administering the second-level domains within the greater .ZA namespace. These include the over 1 100 000 domain names ending in co.za, web.za, org.za, net.za, as well as .capetown (‘dotCapeTown’), .durban (‘dotDurban) and dotJoburg.
The next step is for ZACR to now launch its Proxy Registrar with new prices soon to be announced. The ZACR Proxy Registrar will allow non-accredited ICANN Registrars to resell ICANN gTLDs.
As a South African-built centre of operational excellence, ZACR is responsible for the technical and administrative wellbeing of the entire South African presence on the worldwide web. Exact, up-to-the-minute registration statistics for all ZACR-administered domains are available on ZACR’s website, www.registry.net.za.
