The .TM Domain Registry Ltd, which manages the ccTLD of Turkmenistan .TM, has notified domain registrars of an upcoming significant increase in prices and changes in the rules for registering domain names. Since the domain name coincides with the abbreviation of the English phrase trade mark, these innovations will affect many registrants, including far beyond the borders of the Central Asian republic.
Prices for registering domain names in the national .TM domain are still quite high. In addition, until very recently, it was possible to register a domain only for 10 years at once. According to Domain Incite, which reported the news, the minimum offer found from registrar companies is $1,200 for a ten-year registration, which equates to $120 per year. Now the registry is abandoning previous requirements and moving to generally accepted practice: from June 1, it will be possible to register a domain name for a period of 1 to 10 years.
But at the same time, the cost of registration (and its subsequent renewal) also increases sharply. The wholesale price for registrar companies will be $400 - with the possibility of lowering to $200 if registering more than 100 domain names. As for the retail price for the registrants themselves, the registry named the recommended price at $1,000. Thus, a ten-year registration of a name in the .TM domain will no longer cost $1,200, but $10,000.
It is worth adding that the .TM Domain Registry Ltd, which manages the national domain of Turkmenistan, is a British company and belongs to entrepreneur Paul Kane. His company also previously managed the British Indian Ocean Territories country code .IO, but the management rights were subsequently sold to Identity Digital.
