auDA, the registry that manages Australia's ccTLD .AU, has announced an upcoming price increase. From October 1 this year, wholesale prices (billed by the registry to registrar companies) for annual registration of names in a domain zone will increase from AUD 7.78 (about $5.14) to AUD 8.45 ($5.60). Accordingly, prices for registrants will be even higher.
The registry explains the need for an increase due to “inflation-based cost pressures.” At the same time, its representatives emphasize that even after the increase, prices in the Australian national domain will remain significantly lower than in “comparable Top Level Domain options.” It’s hard to disagree with this: the Domain Incite, reporting this news, recalls that the price of an annual name registration in the UK national domain .UK, for example, is now about $5, while in the general top-level domain .COM it is $10.26.
