Kyrgyz PTO and AsiaInfo Sign Agreement on Administration of “KG” Domain

As we reported in April (see here), the Kyrgyz government was getting ready to transfer administration of the “KG” top-level domain to the Kyrgyz IPO. The transfer was made official on June 10, 2009.

On that day, the Kyrgyz Patent and Trademark Office and a local communication company AsiaInfo signed the Protocol of Intentions according to which the administration of the ”KG” domain would be transferred from AsiaInfo to the Kyrgyz PTO.

The document was submitted to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to confirm the transfer of administrative rights. The “KG” domain registry should be transferred to the Kyrgyz PTO no later than two months after ICANN’s decision.

The main motivation behind the transfer is to end AsiaInfo’s monopoly and to reduce the high domain registration fee, which slows the growth of national websites. The transfer should promote the development of a competitive market for Internet domain registrars in Kyrgyzstan, explained Farkhat Ibragimov from the International Relations Division of the Kyrgyz PTO.

AsiaInfo was the sole registrar of the “KG” domain for 14 years. It was granted this right by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on July 12, 1995.

In the beginning of 2009 the Kyrgyz PTO and AsiaInfo negotiated a reduction of the one-year domain registration fee from USD 100 to USD 60, which still proved too high for many website owners.

Accordingly, on April 7, 2009, the Kyrgyz president issued a decree on the transfer of administration rights for the “KG” domain to the Kyrgyz PTO.

Ibragimov said that the Kyrgyz PTO would like to reduce the domain registration fee to USD 15-20.

For more information, please contact Jovana Miocinovic in our Balkan Regional Office.