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New Chinese "mobile" top-level domain now available to all website owners and operators
[April 16, 2014]

New Chinese "mobile" top-level domain now available to all website owners and operators


DUBLIN --(Business Wire)--

Global registry services provider and dotMobi (News - Alert) registry operator Afilias today announced the general availability of its first Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) at the top level: .?? (.MOBILE in Chinese).

Transliterated as "Yí Dòng," .?? is a domain name just like .MOBI, which also indicates a website works on a mobile device. But the .?? domain is part of a new generation of top-level domains (TLDs) that are written in native languages rather than traditional ASCII scripts like the .INFO or .MOBI TLDs.

A Chinese complement to the .MOBI domain, .?? is designed to let Chinese-speakers - wherever in the world they're located - know that a website was designed to work on a mobile device like a tablet, iPhone or Android (News - Alert)™ device.

"With more than one billion mobile phone users in China plus millions more Chinese speakers around the world, the ability to effectively reach the Chinese-language community is more important than ever," said Roland LaPlante, Senior Vice President and CMO, Afilias. "By using a globally operative .?? address, businesses and individuals can expand their appeal to this audience by reaching them in their native language, regardless of country, operator or device."

.?? domain can be registered for up to 10 years at a time. Many registrars offer website building, email and other services along with .?? domains to make your online presence work exactly as you envision it!



The .?? general availability period officially opens at 16:00:00 UTC on April 17, 2014. You can find a registrar for your .?? domain at http://afilias.info/new-tlds/mobileregistrars.

About Afilias


Afilias is the world's second largest domain registry, with more than 20 million names under management. Afilias powers a greater variety of top-level domains than any other provider, and will soon support hundreds of new TLDs now preparing for launch. Afilias' specialized technology makes Internet addresses more accessible and useful through a wide range of applications, including Internet domain registry servicesManaged DNS and mobile Web services like goMobi® and DeviceAtlas®. For more information on Afilias services, visit www.afilias.info.


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