**OT** Network Solutions plans Indian foray
Business Times Bureau
NEW DELHI: Network Solutions Inc (NSI), a pioneer in Web registration services, plans to enter India later this year either through a joint venture or via an outright acquisition of an Indian company in the area of its core business, a senior company official said.
"India is one of our biggest markets in the Asia-Pacific region and we're finalising our entry strategy in this market," Gary Hayward, VP sales and marketing of the company said. The $220-million company, he said, has already shortlisted two firms for acquisition in the region but refused to divulge whether any of them were from India.
India is ranked eight in terms of number of registrations of domain names (.com, .org, .edu, .net) worldwide, ahead of Japan. The only other country which is ahead of India in the Asia-pacific region is China. The number of registrations in India at 89,000 in 1999 grew by over 267 per cent over the previous year's figure of 23,000.
NSI announced on Tuesday an addition of five new 'premier' category partners in India. They include Saytyam Infoway, Cyberweb Global Services, Dotcom Services, India Web Promoters and Web Werks. Existing premier partners are Delhinet, Indialinks, Innovative Creations, Planet India and WebIndia Internet services.
A premier category partner has to bring at least 50 domain name registrations per month. Companies who bring over 500 registration will fall under the `gold' category. However, firms which can register less than 50 can participate in the affiliate programme. NSI, Howard said, is planning to increase the number of its premier partners in India. The US company has 240 partner companies globally, of which 60 are in Asia.
NSI charges $70 for registering a domain name through its partners. However, if you decide to register directly through the Network Solution website you have to pay $119 which would include a two-year Web-hosting fee.
NSI, which had a monopoly in domain name registrations till mid 1999 has registered over 8.1 million domain names. Now there are over 30 companies working as registrars for domain names. NSI commanded a 90 per cent marketshare in domain name registrations globally.
The company has registered over 1.5 million names in 1999 compared to 5.32 lakh in 1998.
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