TRA set to launch Arabic domain name for UAE

The UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced its plan to launch .emarat - the Arabic equivalent of the .ae domain name for the country.

The move has been backed by ICANN, the international corporation responsible for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses, the regulator said in a statement.

It added that the launch of the new service would happen in the second quarter of 2010.

Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim, TRA director general, said: "Our objective is to support Arabic content over the internet and build a strong identity for UAE and Arab countries across the World Wide Web.

"We encourage all companies and entities in the UAE to register for .ae and .emarat as it represents their local business identity and brings their country pride."

Using an Arabic domain name would expand the number of internet users and enhance the Arabic identity of the UAE while increasing the contribution to the Arabic content available on the internet, he added.

The .ae domain administration of the TRA has updated its systems to support domain name registration in Arabic, Al Ghanim said.

Last week the TRA said it was targeting new UAE businesses in the second phase of its campaign to increase the number of .ae websites.

The main objective of the campaign is to target new businesses that have yet to register a domain name and also existing organisations who have not registered for a .ae domain name, the TRA said in a statement.

"In the period [August 2008 to August 2009] the number of new registrations increased by 30 percent compared to the corresponding period the year before," the telecoms watchdog said, adding that there were currently about 90,000 .ae websites registered.

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