The UK capital to apply for .London top-level domain

Earlier this year, ICANN approved one of the biggest changes ever to the domain naming system for websites, opening up the option for brands to apply for their own domain extensions. This means that we could soon be seeing the likes of .CAR, .SPORTS or .BANK across the Web.

With that in mind, the Telegraph today reports that London’s official promotional agency, London & Partners, has announced that it will apply for a dedicated .London domain on behalf of the UK capital.

However, you shouldn’t expect to be searching for bus timetables on http://transport.London any time soon. Applications must be submitted by April next year, from which point the consultation period could last almost two years. Other major cities around the globe have also applied for their own dedicated domains, including New York, Paris and Berlin.

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Back in September 2010, London Mayor Boris Johnson appointed a new Advisory Board, to make recommendations on digital projects around the city. And as the Telegraph reports today, the Mayor is pursuing “a greater use of the digital world to deliver more effective public services for the city”.

London & Partners was announced as the new promo agency for the UK capital back in April, and has been working with the Mayor of London to promote the city at home and abroad.

Kulveer Ranger, Digital Advisor to the Mayor said:

“Ownership of the dot London domain could offer a tremendous opportunity to reinforce London’s position as a global centre for digital innovation, generate revenue and bring about new employment opportunities. There is great potential for engaging with Londoners and the Mayor is interested to understand better what people think this opportunity would mean to them, as well as the marketing opportunities and the business benefit for the capital as a whole.”

Earlier this week we reported that branded top-level domains were being launched in Arabic too, evidence that the whole domain name system (DNS) is changing across the world.