The new look, same great taste of the Arabic Top Level Domain (TLD) .emarat or .إمارات will be available to the UAE public by end of 2010. I love saying this: I told you so.
With the first .emarat launched early last week, the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) will officially launch the TLD by the end of this month making it the first Arab country to roll this out. However, the first phase of registration will only include government entities.
The second phase, which will start on September 27, will be dedicated for trademarks only. Not clear on if these trademarks are UAE-specific or not, though.
The third phase will be open for “distinguished names” after November 14. These are probably the rest of the trademarks that are not so influential.
The final phase will be in December and will welcome all other parties.
According to the TRA, using an Arabic domain name will help increase the number of internet users and enhance the Arabic identity of the UAE. If you haven’t heard of the Abu Dhabi 2030 mission (PDF), this is very in-line with the direction that the Emirate and country is taking to promote and enhance the Arabic culture via new media and technological advancements.
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