The .uk domain name has seen the amount of companies registering to use it pass the 100,000 mark.

June 2014 saw a record number of online registrations across all domain name types in the UK, with 225,000 new sign-ups, the highest since March 2000.

Companies like Apple, Amazon, Starbucks and Debenhams have reportedly signed on.

Overall there have been 10.5 million domains registered with the .uk namespace, whether.uk, .co.uk or .org.uk. Thirty six per cent of the new registrations in June comprised of the newer, shorter, .uk name.

Nominet, the internet registry company that launched .uk, sees the uptake as a reason to celebrate.

"Given that the domain name market is more competitive than ever before, this is a fantastic endorsement of the power of the UK brand," said Eleanor Bradley, Nominet's chief operating officer.

"We're pleased not only that our new .uk domain has hit this milestone, but that other .uk domains - such as .co.uk and .org.uk - continue to be so popular as hundreds of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) hit the market.

"It shows that highlighting your UK connection continues to be a compelling prospect for businesses and individuals online."

Nominet reported taking up 50,000 registrations within 24 hours of launch, indicating that, while the demand is still there, it may be slowing up slightly.

Not everything has come up roses for Nominet since launch, however. A policy change left them in hot water with registrars after the firm revealed it would publicly display hosts' addresses and full names.

Previously Nominet allowed registrars to opt out of having their postal address being shown in search results."To opt out, you must be a consumer'" a Nominet employee told blogger Andrew Norton. "[An] individual who has registered and is using the domain name for a purpose unconnected with any business, trade or profession."

The shorter .uk domain name has officially been launched by Nominet, the organisation responsible for managing the UK's domain registry.

The move brings the UK into line with other countries that offer domains ending in two-letter suffixes. Up until now, these UK top-level domains were longer, e.g. .co.uk, .org.uk, and so on and these will continue to be available.

Organisations and individuals will be able to buy the new, shorter domains with actor and national treasure Stephen Fry being among the first to make the switch.

"Fret no more, people of Britain. The day of .uk is upon us. And team stephenfry.com as with all things is proud to be ahead of the curve, or at least cresting it," Fry said in a statement.

According to Nominet, 93 per cent of users prefer the .uk domain over other new alternatives such as .company and .london. Around 72 per cent of businesses wanted .uk as an option alongside .co.uk.

The shorter .uk domains were made available from 8am today, with the first domains going live throughout the morning. People can sign up for the new .uk domains through domain name registrars, alongside existing domains such as .co.uk or .org.uk

"The new .uk is for people who want a short, memorable domain with the popular and trusted .uk ending. We know this combination appeals to our tech-savvy, digitally-engaged population," said Eleanor Bradley, chief operating officer at Nominet.

To mark the new domain name, Nominet has made the world's largest welcome sign and placed the 10,000 square feet sign on the flight path into Heathrow Airport.

"We're delighted that Stephen Fry has chosen .uk, given that he's known for being an early digital adopter. We wanted to welcome him and everyone else to the brand new .uk domain in a big way so why not do it with the world's biggest welcome sign?" added Bradley.

Nominet, the organisation that oversees the running of the .uk internet infrastructure, is to change the terms and conditions governing the registering of UK-based domain names to eradicate those used for criminal purposes.

The changes, which come into effect on 4 May, specifically prohibit any .uk domain being used for criminal activity and forbid the registration of domains that promote or incite serious sexual offences.

Nominet has said it will work with law enforcement agencies, such as the National Crime Agency and Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to identify and suspend any domains that break these rules.

However, suspension will not be automatic. Domains identified by law enforcement as potentially promoting criminal activity will be checked individually by Nominet, in order to ensure there are no administrative errors, the company said.

Subsequently, it will work with domain name registrars to have the addresses suspended.

Lesley Cowley, CEO of Nominet, said: "As the .uk registry, we are determined to play our part in a wider community which needs to work together to protect internet users from criminality online.

"It's established practice at Nominet to cooperate with law enforcement agencies - we believe the UK namespace has an enviable record of trust and safety," she said.

"However we're taking the opportunity ... to make it clear that criminal use of a domain name is an explicit breach of our terms of registration, and to make it clear how we will respond."

Owners of suspended domains will have 30 days to appeal.

Following the rule change, the company will produce a report on the number of domains suspended as a result after six months, with future reports being released on a quarterly basis.

The UK internet namespace is set for shakeup, with Nominet set to introduce shorter .uk domain names for the first time next summer.

The internet registry company has confirmed that, as of next year, companies will be able to choose between registering domain names that end in .uk, as well as .co.uk and .org.uk.

No definitive launch date for the .uk domain names has been announced yet, although Nominet said it intends to confirm one by February 2014.

Web users that already hold a .co.uk address will be given five years to decide if they want to swap their existing name for one ending in .uk.

Furthermore, in cases where there are competing addresses, such as itpro.co.uk and itpro.org.uk, the owner of the .co.uk version will be given first dibs on claiming the .uk domain.

The Nominet news follows on from ICANN's decision last month to start rolling out the latest crop of its generic top-level domains, a process that looks set to continue into 2014.

As such, the number of domain names looks set to soar over the next 12 months.

Speaking to IT Pro, Eleanor Bradley, chief operating officer at Nominet UK, said the change was an important step in ensuring the UK namespace maintains its competitive edge.

"The major changes we're going to see in the domain name industry will really be kicking off in earnest next year with the introduction of these new generic top-level domains, and we're keen to ensure .uk continues to evolve and really holds its own among the other [domains] that are coming online," Bradley explained.

"We want to make sure what we're offering continues to evolve and move forward. It's something we've heard over the years many times, people saying they'd like the option to register shorter domains."

Bradley was also quick to quash suggestions the move would result in the .co.uk suffix eventually being phased out.

"That's absolutely not our intention. This is something new. It will be available to existing registrants of the other domain names we have, but we will continue to promote and are absolutely committed to org.uk and co.uk and all the other second-level domains we currently have," she stressed.

Nominet confirmed the wholesale price for buying a .uk domain will be 3.50 per year for a 12-month registration, and 2.50 per year for multi-year deals.

The charges are in line with what it costs to register a .co.uk address, a move Bradley said the company took to help keep the financial burden of running an online business low for its customers.

Bradley also went on to flesh out some of the other benefits the move may bring to business users.

"[A .uk web address] is shorter, snappier and potentially more memorable. We know internet users trust .uk domain names, and we've conducted some research and 4/5 UK consumers would choose to go to a .uk website over one in another top-level domain," she said.

Nominet has set out plans to introduce shorter domain names for UK businesses, as well as a series of new security features to prevent people falling foul of internet fraudsters.

The company, which is responsible for running the .UK infrastructure, is planning to introduce a digital signature, known as Domain Name System Security Protocol (DNSSEC), to lower the chances of a domain name being hijacked.

Under the plans, companies would need to have a verified UK presence to make use of the new domain names, and any affected by malware could be suspended.

"This new secure domain space would boost the growth of the UK internet economy. We are aware that it represents a significant change to the landscape of the .uk internet and we are committed to taking all points of view on board," said Lesley Cowley, chief executive of Nominet.

The organisation has launched a three-month consultation to allow stake holders to provide their feedback on the plans, which will end on 7 January 2013.

"With the UK internet economy estimated to be worth 121 billion and increasing, the matters of security, ease of use, and choice are becoming ever more important," added Cowley.

Nominet has responded to criticism over steps taken to shut down the domains of websites suspected of involvement in illegal criminal activities.

The UK domain name registrar has had a change of heart after it failed to reach an agreement with internet group stakeholders over the suspension of such websites.

It began the process of changing its policy earlier this year when the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) last year submitted a proposal to it regarding how to manage the use of domain names used in connection with criminal activities.

Although the policy changes are still in their draft phase, the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), Open Rights Group (ORG) and London Internet Exchange (Linx) failed to reach agreement on the policy and the subsequent domain shutdowns that have taken place.

"Nominet has to date been suspending domain names at the mere request of law enforcement in a variety of cases," wrote Jim Killock, Open Rights Chief executive in a blog post last week.

"ORG's position is that seizures and suspensions should be taking place only on court orders, as the law and the European Convention on Human Rights require."

The Nominet board was due to ratify draft recommendations on the policy proposals in December. But, following the developments last week, it will instead look to reconvene the issue group in January for further discussions before taking recommendations back to the board.

"We had hoped to submit a proposed policy to our board in the December timeframe," it said in a statement. "But following some recent public feedback it is clear that there are issues that require further discussion."

The statement added that the registrar's approach from the outset had been to gain consensus agreement with the issue group participants on the policy "where possible".

"Nominet remains committed to ensuring all stakeholders have their views represented, so we can continue to run .uk for the benefit of all," it added.

The Met's Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) has shut down over 2,000 fraudulent websites which were either flogging knock-off gear or selling nothing at all.

Online shoppers had been duped into paying fraudsters for purported designer goods from the likes of Nike and Ugg. Items either didn't show up or consumers were sent counterfeit goods.

In the run up to Christmas the PCeU will continue to work with Nominet and other registries to disable as many such sites as possible.

The PCeU worked in conjunction with registrars to find and close the websites, which were generating criminals "millions of pounds," the Met said today.

"The sites suspended are registered in bulk by crime groups with the sole intention of duping consumers into parting with their money for, at best, poor quality counterfeit goods, at worst, nothing at all," said DI Paul Hoare, from the PCeU.

"In the run up to Christmas the PCeU will continue to work with Nominet and other registries to disable as many such sites as possible but I would urge customers to take all precautions to ensure they buy from legitimate sites only."

Registrants were notified before having their sites shut down, Nominet revealed.

".uk deserves its reputation as a trusted online space for British consumers, and we are committed to tackling cybercrime to keep it that way. The .uk domain name industry has come together to protect consumers and maintain their trust in the .uk internet space," said Lesley Cowley, Nominet CEO.

The Met warned those affected by the scams could have had their identities stolen, or their bank details used for "criminal activity elsewhere."

No arrests were made in connection with the websites.

In other recent law enforcement, arrests have been made. The shutdown of the DNS Changer botnet recently saw six men arrested, with one man still on the loose.

In that case, the suspects were not warned before their operations were crippled.

Security experts have noted the need to catch the criminals, as if they remain on the prowl they will only continue to carry out illicit acts.

Some nine million people who have never been online could benefit from a new "outreach" programme.

The Community Outreach Fund, run by UK Online Centres and funded partially by the Nominet Trust, provides grants up to 5,000 for local projects.

The scheme aims to help the estimated 8.7 million who have never been online, to take their first steps on to the internet.

UK Online Centres already run introductory courses on the internet, at locations such as Sure Start Centres, as well as through community and voluntary sector bodies.

However, although there are 3,800 centres already, the organisation wants to improve access to hard to reach communities, especially in the country's poorest wards.

This, according to director of operations, Kevin McLean, could include teams visiting homeless shelters, care homes or even village pubs, and setting up temporary internet access using laptops and dongles.

"These are people who have never been online, not once," McLean told IT Pro. "There is a strong likelihood that they are older, poor, or have lower educational attainment. There is a strong correlation with wider social deprivation."

The outreach funding, he added, will help to provide internet access to groups who are less likely to use other facilities, such as Sure Start.

The grants will set out to do more than just introduce people to sites such as Facebook. "There are lots of socio-economic benefits to getting people online," said McLean. "People using Government services online save the taxpayer cash, and individuals can make hundreds of pounds in savings online, for example on their energy, phone or travel bills.

"But a large proportion of people who take our courses then go on to take a course at a local college, or at the Open University. We also work with Jobcentre Plus, as more and more jobs are only being advertised online."

Community organisations have until 15 August to apply for funding through UK Online Centres.

Nominet Trust is a charity whose goals include promoting increased access to the internet across the UK.

Nominet has opened up a debate on whether it should be obliged to cut off websites connected with illegal activity.

Under current terms and conditions, Nominet has no such obligation but the registrar is looking for input on whether it should be forced to suspend illicit websites.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) put in a request to Nominet last year to bring about the change.

Nominet subsequently announced an issue group to discuss a possible change to its terms and conditions, and stakeholders showed plenty of interest in taking part.

Anyone wanting to participate now has until 23 February to apply and it is expected that the issue group will be selected by 2 March.

The group will then meet later that month after members have been sent an independent summary covering the issue.

Elsewhere, Nominet said it is looking for input over what to do with expired domains.

People wishing to comment on the topic have until 2 March to do so.

"We'd encourage anyone that wants to be involved in the process to get in touch and have their say," said Eleanor Bradley, director of operations at Nominet.

"We want to gather the broadest range of feedback possible across all matters of .uk policy and feed it into our policy development process."

The .uk domain has continued to grow in prominence, passing a major milestone this week.

Nominet, the UK's internet registry for domain names, has confirmed the number of sites registered with the .uk domain has surpassed nine million.

The nine millionth domain name went to active2011.co.uk, a website registered by the Nirvana Spa and Pulse 8 Health and Fitness Club in Wokingham.

This year has seen significant growth for the domain with a rise of 11.5 per cent in registrations. Nominet expects over two million new .uk domains to have been registered before the year is out.

"It is a fitting way to end what has been another significant and successful year for the .uk registry," wrote managing director of Nominet, Lesley Cowley, in a blog post.

"From what we have seen over the past couple of years, it is safe to assume that if the global economic climate shows signs of recovery we can expect a further upturn in growth in the domain names market [in 2011]."

Nominet has found itself under increasing pressure from law enforcement agencies to cut off websites running illicit activities.

The .uk domain name registrar has now organised an issue group to discuss whether it should change its terms and conditions to include rules about what happens to websites helping run illegal operations.

The move comes after a request from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was sent to Nominet, which said it has been under increasing pressure to "respond quickly to reasonable requests to suspend domain names."

"The issue group will not give operational advice," Nominet said in a brief.

"However, it might want to discuss ideas related to the nature of formal requests for suspension, whether safeguards are necessary (an appeals process, for example), and what information and support might be needed from the industry for responsible officers in law enforcement agencies to help them identify when action is appropriate."

Nominet has already assisted in previous police work. In December 2009 it worked with the Police Central eCrime Unit ((PCeU) to suspend over 1,200 domain names.

The registrar said it hopes SOCA and PCeU will be involved in the discussion, alongside Government bodies including HM Revenue and Customs, the Home Office and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Responding to the issue group's formation, Dominique Lazanski, senior fellow for technology policy at the Big Brother Watch, had issues with the term "reasonable requests."

Lazanski wrote in a blog: "Does that mean a warrant is required by a law enforcement agency? Will the domain name owner be able to face due process in conjunction with suspension of their domain name and website?"

She praised Nominet for its willingness to talk with experts to advise on the best moves forward, but compared the plans to the Digital Economy Act.

"Just like the Digital Economy Act, this proposal does not assume innocence in the face of an accusation," Lazanski added.

"But unlike the Digital Economy Act, this proposal is not codified in a law which would make it legally enforceable."

Earlier this month, BT and TalkTalk were celebrating after being granted a judicial review into the Act, which allowed for internet connections deemed to be responsible for illegal file sharing or downloading copyrighted material to be switched off.

The .uk domain name has seen massive growth over the past year, making it the second most common domain in the world.

Nearly nine million registered domain names now use the .uk suffix, claimed Nominet's Domain Name Industry report, with over 200,000 new registrations in just one month.

Only Germany's .de domain overshadowed .uk and it pushed China's .cn domain to third place, with the Netherlands taking fourth spot.

"Trust and confidence in the .uk domain namespace is important for UK consumers and businesses alike," said the report.

The report claimed extra tools for registrars to protect against cyber crime have helped dangerous sites to be detected and removed. The .uk domain is now seen by many as a mark of a trustworthy destination, Nominet said.

"Trust and preference for .uk websites is increasing year on year sending an important message to UK businesses that consumers are most comfortable when dealing online with UK businesses on .uk websites," added the report.

There are now about 200 million registered domain names globally.

Non-Latin characters are being used for top level domains for the first time in the internet's history.

Yesterday saw the introduction of the first three production non-Latin top-level domains, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) announced.

United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have become the first countries to have their country code top-level domains (ccTLD) written in Arabic.

"All three are Arabic script domains, and will enable domain names written fully right-to-left," explained Icann's Kim Davies in a blog post.

Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is one of the first to use a ccTLD for its website.

A big deal

So just how significant is this development? Phil Kingsland, director of marketing and communications at Nominet, the national registry for .uk domain names, believes it is "a major turning point in the history of the internet".

He told IT PRO: "There are currently an estimated 1.8 billion people using the internet and a further five billion who are not yet online - most of these people are from nations where their language is not based on the Latin script.

He added: "Opening up the web to allow Asian, Arabic and other non-Latin based scripts will give this large group of people easier access to the web, helping to bring them online and making the Internet more inclusive. This move will undoubtedly bring freedom to a globally connected community."

There is significance for businesses here as well and Kingsland suggested firms should prepare for the propagation of such domains.

"For brand owners there is a requirement to be aware and plan for the introduction of these new domains, whether it's for brand protection purposes, or to market via this new channel."

Teething problems?

Introducing the Arabic ccTLDs has not been smooth sailing, however.

Those with software that does not have full internationalised domain name support may not get the results they expect. "You may see a mangled string of letters and numbers, and perhaps some per cent signs or a couple of "xn--"s mixed into the address bar. Or it may not work at all," Davies added.

"Icann staff are still finishing the processing of these domains' delegations, but now that they are visible in the root zone it is fair to say these are mostly formalities."

Regardless of the technical teething issues, internet historians will want to mark this as an important event in the web's relatively brief life.

Tell us more about what Nominet does.

Nominet [is] the domain name registry for .uk. That means that we both manage the database of the eight million plus UK domains that are on the UK internet as well as the DNS infrastructure that supports it.

In a nutshell, we [make sure] when you type in an address to your browser that points to a .uk website that you get there. That's our fundamental job at Nominet.

We make sure that we give the safety and the service that people expect from the UK internet and keeping it as a trusted space which is absolutely vital and key to us.

So how is the .uk domain doing?

It's thriving and we are seeing good growth. We have just recently turned our eighth millionth domain for .uk, which we are obviously thrilled about [and] we also had a recent report that said there has been a significant increase in trust in '.co.uk'.

I think we have seen around 77 per cent of people surveyed [saying] they would trust the .co.uk name over .com and with .com being one of the original domains on the internet and very much a trusted domain space, for people to say that is really important.

We see the UK internet being a trusted space to do business and to manage your social presence as being absolutely key and it is very much thriving.

How does the UK compare to the rest of Europe?

It is doing well [but] I think everybody is seeing growth at the moment.

Obviously [compared to] .com, which [has] 80 million domains, we have a long way to go but the whole domain market is thriving.

We are currently alternating between the fourth and fifth largest country code top level domain in the world which is great. That gives us great standing in the internet world in general, certainly with ICANN and a number of the key technical committees which we try and influence and the policy committees.

So we are doing well alongside everyone else [as] it is a growth area for everybody.

So why when the internet is so global do people enjoy having the localised domain?

I think it is mainly because people are seeing perhaps less trust worthy domains [emerge]. They have become very aware of spamming, I don't think there is anyone in this country that isn't aware of spam email, and they have become very aware of phishing.

People have [also] become aware that typically it is much harder to do that from within a co.uk environment than it is to do it from other domains, so have become to a certain extent less trustworthy of some of the more international domains or more generic domains.

On top of that I think we have done a lot of good work both through Nominet, the ISPs and registries to increase trust so I think it is a two factor thing.

If the goal is to become trusted, what are the barriers stopping that trust right now?

The domain system is like any other place where you do your business. What we are doing is working with law enforcement agencies to look at how we can both prevent criminal activity but also stop criminal activity once we have discovered it.

We have been doing quite a bit of work recently around phishing so what we are doing is taking various sources of information about suspicious sites and pushing that out so that registrars and ISPs can take action on that.

We have also more recently introduced the phishing lock' which allows registrars to lock down domains the moment they hear of suspicious activity rather than having to come to Nominet and get [us] to do that.

These are a set and suite of tools and it is an ongoing process about trying to increase that security and safety.

So do you think people are starting to take internet security more seriously?

I think we [are seeing] an increasing awareness of security. I think that as the internet grows, the smartness of the criminal fraternity grows, so what may have started as virus writing 10 years ago has now become phishing emails and spoof websites.

People are becoming increasingly aware [and] are increasingly wanting to understand how they can avoid those kind of sites. The browser manufacturers and the anti-virus software companies are all providing tools to help you avoid fraud and we are part of that whole process.

When it comes to law enforcement, we work quite closely with the Police eCrime unit to understand how we can help it to both identify and to tackle the criminal fraternity that operates online.

There is a long way to go - I think [the police] would admit that - in getting that whole process very smooth and transparent so that everyone is happy with it. It is a fairly new unit forming and we are trying to help it as much as we can.

What advice would you offer?

I would refer to a comment made by Stephen Fry. [He] said that the internet was like a city and there are areas of a city that are highly secure, places you want to go, and very well managed. There are [also] areas of a city [which] you may not want to see and be part of.

What it is about is education, understanding and awareness; that you need to take care of your actions when you are using the internet [and] understand what it is you are looking at.

There are obviously lots of tools that can help you with that the key thing is to be aware and be safe just like you would if you went into the centre of London. It is no different online.

We would obviously love to do everything from our side to eradicate as much of that criminal behaviour [as possible] but it is very much about being aware of where you go [and] what you visit. It is also [about] being aware of how your family and your children are using the internet, making sure that they are aware of the safety and security concerns we are talking about.

What does the future hold for .uk?

We would like and hope for it to continue to grow [and] would very much like it to be seen as a safe and secure place to be on the internet. We are doing a lot of work around influencing the safety and security debate [and] doing some significant work around DNS security.

Amongst the other domains that we run, not just co.uk but ones like org.uk we would like to be seen as [secure] and I think our fundamental goal is for the UK [is] to be a very trusted space on the internet as well as the internet as a [whole being safe].

We work globally, not just nationally, to influence policy and technical decisions around that.

The Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) has taken down more than 1,000 scam retail websites with the help of domain name registry Nominet.

As part of Operation Papworth', the PCeU took down 1,219 websites set up by criminal networks claiming that they were selling designer gear.

Gangs were taking advantage of brand names such as Ugg Australia Boots, ghd Hair Straighteners, Tiffany & Co and Links of London.

Shoppers convinced to buy items received nothing or counterfeit products. They also risked their identity being used fraudulently by criminals elsewhere.

It is believed these websites could have run up profits amounting to millions of pounds.

"The risk begins when your desire to purchase blinds your judgement or leads you to illegal websites," said Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie, head of the PCeU, in a statement.

"If it looks too good to be true, it probably is," she added.

The PCeU set up Operation Papworth with Nominet, which manages over eight million domain names, to target misuse of the UK domain name system and reduce retail fraud.

Lesley Cowley, chief executive of Nominet, said in a statement: "We received clear instructions from the PCeU to take down the '.co.uk' domain names, which have been under investigation for criminal activity."

"We worked closely with the police and our registrars to quickly carry out the instruction to shut down access to these sites," she added.

The majority of the sites were registered from Asia, taking over UK domain names by using false details.

This made it virtually impossible for victims to complain, and also made it very difficult for law enforcement or Trading Standards to do anything about it.

British consumers favour using the .uk domain name when searching for information on the net.

So claims the annual industry report from Nominet , which shows that more than three-quarters ( 77 per cent) of respondents prefer the local domain compared to the more generic .com.

The research also showed that, despite the current economic climate, there was an eight per cent rise in registrations of domain names worldwide, bringing the total number to 187.6 million.

Phil Kingsland, director of marketing and communications at Nominet, said in a statement: "It's encouraging to see that despite market saturation and the global economic recession, the .uk registry and other country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) have remained strong."

He added: "The report demonstrates that both consumers and businesses are willing to invest in "local" domains because they are seen as reliable, relevant and trusted and will give them a direct route to their target audience."

Kingland believes that the best way forward for businesses is to continue to think about their local branding.

He concluded: "It is a global marketplace, but what we are seeing is that consumers trust and rely on a more local touch point with a brand."

The .tel domain has opened up to anyone wanting the remaining names.

At 3pm GMT today, the domain's manager Telnic kicks off the landrush' period, letting anyone pick up a .tel spot for a premium cost of $100 (70) a year. While trademarks such as Google and Microsoft were bought up by their owners during the so-called Sunrise' period, more generic keywords such as pizza' or London' will still be available.

During the third and last phase of the domain's rollout, starting 24 March, any remaining names can be picked up for about $10 to $20 a year.

The .tel domain is different than standard ones, which use the Domain Name System (DNS) to return an IP address, letting users find a website. Instead, .tel lets companies store data right in the DNS, meaning key data such as contact information or location details is returned.

Telnic's chief executive Khashayar Mahdavi told IT PRO that .com' addresses are all about websites, while .tel is more of a global directory. "DNS is used as an address book for IP addesses but .tel is about storing direct contact information in the DNS," he said.

"The Yellow Page business is very fragmented," he explained. "Here you get listings in a global directory."

It does this without the need for a website, he added, making it ideal for mobile devices while still being searchable.

"For a small company, you can have an online prescence without a website or paying for hosting," Mahdavi said. "That's the beauty and the revolution there."

At the moment, the main use is as a listing directory, but it can also be used for phone-based voting think reality TV here or for location-based services.

Phil Kingsland, director of communications at .uk registry Nominet, advised companies to consider the type of business they operate, the brands they want to promote, and the people they're trying to reach before making a decision on new domains. "The real nub of it is that as a business, you need to make a decision and have a domain name strategy."

Loyalty to the .uk domain address shows no sign of abating having racked up another one million registrations in the past year.

Ilford-based Toots Driving School

was the seventh million company to register demand for a .co.uk name, serving as further evidence that British web users have a fondness for local domain names, according to registry Nominet.

"We are pleased to see that the .uk registry is growing year on year. This, coupled with the high level of consumer trust in .uk, emphasises the value of businesses having a .co.uk domain name," said Phil Kingsland, director of marketing and communications at Nominet. "It has become a key element of a UK-based company's brand identity."

YouGov research published last year showed that almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of us would head for a .uk rather than a .com address when searching for the information we want online.

"We chose a .uk domain name to give the web site a local feel underlining our UK basis," added Michelle Taylor, registrant of tootsdrivingschool.co.uk. "A .uk site is something our customers recognise and trust, which means they are more likely to visit our site and book driving lessons."