DStv channels have dominated the list of applicants from Africa for the new top-level- domain names.This was evident in the list of proposed generic top-level domain names (gTLDs) revealed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Wednesday.
Popular domain names like .com have become very common. However, in the recent past, a lot of interest has been generated in acquiring unique names such as .africa, .joburg, .mtn and even .lamborghini having been applied for already.
DStv, operating in 47 African countries, submitted the most application in from Africa, that included: .dstv, .multichoice, .mnet, .africamagic, .kyknet, .supersport, .mzansimagic and .gotv.
“In order to protect your brand, you absolutely have to take out the top level domain”, John Kotsaftis, DStv Online chief executive, told ITWeb Africa.
“If you work out the cost of that versus the amount of money we spend building a brand up, it’s really a drop in the ocean,” he added.
Out of the 1930 applications that ICANN received worldwide, 911 applications came from North America, 675 from Europe, 303 from the Asia-Pacific region, 24 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 17 from Africa.
Experts say the move by DStv might have been fuelled b the fact that the future of broadcasting is IP, and only want to take an insurance in case they decide to go the content streaming way.
