Now companies will be able to register two-letter domain names on the .ie domain.
For the first time two-letter .ie domain names like aa.ie are to be registered for the first time, according to the .ie Domain Registry (IEDR).
The move will allow for up to 676 possible two-letter domain name combinations, including hp.ie, pc.ie, hr.ie and aa.ie, among others. The exact release process and the mechanism will be confirmed after a public consultation.
In the UK, when its domain registry made one and two letter domain names available there, there was a lot of interest, with £3m (€4.1m) raised through the auction process.
In the UK, global companies such as Facebook snapped up the address fb.co.uk; Mercedes Benz acquired mb.co.uk and the clothing retailer H&M secured hm.co.uk.
There is expected to be intense competition for some domain names here.
This will apply in the case of company abbreviations, particularly where these are shared by one or more companies, such as HP, BT or AA.
In addition, more general two-letter domain names that describe a specific type of business or service such as HR are also expected to be in demand.
“We are calling for interested parties to express their opinions during our 30-day public consultation process,” said IEDR CEO David Curtin.
“IEDR’s policy advisory committee to the board has worked diligently to consider the policy change and to build consensus among stakeholder organisations on the best release mechanisms. It is now the turn of the public to express its views.”
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