Tucows Launches Advanced Wholesale Registration Solution for .co.uk Top-Level Domain Names

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September 5, 2000

New York, NY, September 5, 2000 – Tucows Inc., the leading wholesale domain name registrar, has announced that the company will offer wholesale registration of the .co.uk and .org.uk top level domain names through its Tucows OpenSRS registration service.

Tucows pioneered wholesale registration and revolutionized the domain name industry when it began selling .com, .net, and .org names in January 2000. Tucows has since made selling domain names easier and more profitable for over 4,000 Managed Service Providers (MSPs), including Internet Service Providers, Web hosting companies, Domain Name Resellers and others, offering a scalable, flexible, cost-effective alternative to Network Solutions, Inc., a VeriSign Company (NASDAQ: VRSN), in the domain name category.

Now, in addition to generic top level domains (gTLDs), Tucows OpenSRS will enable its MSPs worldwide to register, manage, and modify domain names for the .co.uk and .org.uk country code top level domains (ccTLDs). MSPs will be able to sell .co.uk and .org.uk domain names easily and profitably without the technical challenges of becoming a Nominet tag holder (official registrar) in the United Kingdom.

The .co.uk and .org.uk names represent a great opportunity for Tucows and its channel partners. According to Nominet, the operator of the .uk registry, 150,000 new .co.uk names are being registered every month. To date, .co.uk and .org.uk names account for over 10 percent of the total number of domain names registered.

Tucows OpenSRS offers its MSPs a range of advanced tools and services from order automation to real-time end user administration. MSPs can easily integrate their billing system with the OpenSRS order system to quickly process end user registration orders. OpenSRS MSPs will also be able to offer their customers the ability to manage and administer their .com, .net, .org, .co.uk, and .org.uk domain names all from one interface.

“Tucows has experienced unprecedented growth in domain name registrations thanks to great wholesale relationships and superior products and services” said Ross Rader, Director Product Management, Channel Platform Group, Tucows Inc. “In the past eight months, we have made the sale of gTLDs simpler and more profitable for our MSPs. With this announcement, we will begin to do the same for the ccTLD market.”

This initiative marks Tucows’ official expansion into the ccTLD market and beyond. There are currently 244 designated two-letter ccTLDs around the world. Furthermore, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has announced that it will accept applications for new gTLDs (like .com, .net, and .org) in October.

About Tucows

Tucows is a leading distributor of e-business services and applications on the Internet. With a network of more than 4,000 Managed Service Providers (Internet Service Providers, Web hosting companies, Domain Name Resellers and others) in more than 100 countries around the world, we believe Tucows is the largest network of its kind. The Tucows site offers over 30,000 software titles in libraries located around the world, providing users with a fast local download. Tucows Inc. is an ICANN accredited registrar. Tucows is the leading provider of wholesale domain name registrations and related services in the world.

Ya.com Internet Factory

Ya.com Internet Factory (www.globalya.com) is a subsidiary of Jazztel, created in June 1999 and whose activity is centred in the development and creation of services and contents through Internet. The Ya.com Network includes in Spain, in addition to its main portal Ya.com (www.ya.com), over 20 web sites containing contents and services such as Jazzfree.com, MixMail.com, InforChat.com, TiendaPC.com, Radio.Ya.com, RappelWeb.com, Spanien.com, Viajar.com, Viajesydestinos.com, Supermotor.com, Chueca.com, Lanzadera.com, Finanzas.com and Viaplus.ya.com.