Colombia Awards .CO ccTLD Registry Contract to .CO Internet S.A.S.
20 AUGUST 2009, BOGOTá, COLOMBIA
Summary
.CO Internet S.A.S. was awarded the contract after the Ministry conducted a structured and thorough evaluation of submitted proposals in strict compliance with Colombian procurement law.Colombia's Minister of Information Technology and Communications, María del Rosario Guerra, announced yesterday that the 10-year contract to promote, manage, and operate the technical infrastructure of the .CO country code domain (.CO ccTLD) has been awarded to .CO Internet S.A.S., a strategic venture being formed between Arcelandia S.A. and Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR). Arcelandia is a Colombian entity with interests in a variety of Internet-related businesses; Neustar is a leading provider of global registry services and managed DNS services for Top Level Domains.
.CO Internet S.A.S. was awarded the contract after the Ministry conducted a structured and thorough evaluation of submitted proposals in strict compliance with Colombian procurement law. An advisory committee comprised of international, governmental, and business representatives in Colombia was responsible for defining the selection criteria prior to issuing the RFP. Going forward, this same committee will be responsible for overseeing all policy matters relating to the administration of the .CO ccTLD.
“We are honored to have been chosen as the designated administrator for the .CO ccTLD,” said Juan Diego Calle, who will be founder and CEO of .CO Internet S.A.S. “Recognizing the opportunity and responsibility that .CO represents, we have assembled a team of world-class executives and strategic partners that will transform .CO into a globally competitive top-level-domain. Over the next few months, our team will be working hard to finalize every aspect of our plan in consultation with the Advisory Committee, the ICANN community, and other stakeholders.”
NeuStar will serve as the registry operator, and will provide secure and robust registry services to a select list of registrars and advanced DNS capabilities to the .CO domain.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to operate the technical infrastructure and ensure the security and stability of the .CO domain,” said Tim Switzer, vice president of Domain Registry Services at Neustar. “.CO is an important asset to Colombia. The selection of .CO Internet S.A.S. demonstrates that Neustar’s experience and proven capabilities in operating country code TLDs, bringing new TLDs to market, introducing Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) and offering a host of advanced Managed DNS services were major factors in the selection.”
The transition from the current administrator to .CO Internet S.A.S. is expected to take place during the last quarter of 2009. The global launch of second-level registrations (xyz.co) is expected to happen during the first quarter of 2010 during a comprehensive Sunrise process designed to protect trademark interests; details will be published at www.news.com.co as they become available.
STRAAT Investments of Miami, Florida served as lead advisor to Arcelandia and Neustar during the procurement process.
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About Arcelandia
Arcelandia is a 100% Colombian, privately owned company founded in 1984. As a holding company, it is dedicated to investing and operating various commercial enterprises throughout Colombia, as well as advising technology based companies abroad. Visit Arcelandia online at www.arcelandia.com.
About Neustar
Neustar (NYSE: NSR) solves complex communications challenges by providing market-leading and innovative solutions and directory services that enable trusted communication across networks, applications and enterprises around the world. Visit Neustar online at www.neustar.biz
Quotes
"We are honored to have been chosen as the designated administrator for the .CO ccTLD" Juan Diego Calle, CEO
About .CO
.CO is the domain name of choice for innovators and entrepreneurs all over the world. Since launching in 2010, more than 1.6 million .CO domains have been registered by people and companies in more than 200 countries. From startups and small businesses to big brands and multinational corporations, .CO is where big ideas belong on the Web. For more information about .CO, please visit www.go.co or follow us on Twitter @dotCO.