Colombia launches bidding for 10-year operation rights of .CO domain name

Recently, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Colombia issued an announcement to launch bidding for the operation rights of the national top-level domain name (ccTLD) .CO for the next 10 years, which has attracted great attention from the global domain name industry.

The .CO domain name was established in 1991 and has long been managed by the University of Los Andes in Colombia. In 2010, .CO Internet S.A.S. won the operation rights and promoted it from a regional suffix to the international market through brand marketing and advertising. Because it is short and easy to remember, and coincides with the abbreviation of "Company", it attracts many start-ups, technology companies and individual users, and the number of registrations has surged. In 2014, Neustar of the United States acquired the company for US$109 million to promote its globalization, and cooperated with GoDaddy and others to consolidate .CO's position in the international market.

However, the commercialization of .CO has not been smooth sailing. Before the contract expired in 2020, Neustar and the Colombian government had a conflict over the renewal terms. Neustar demanded an automatic renewal for ten years and claimed US$350 million, claiming that the government's modification of the terms constituted a breach of contract. In the end, the two sides compromised and Neustar was renewed for five years, but the terms of the contract changed drastically, with the government share rising from 6%-7% to 81%, and new transparency requirements added, which was seen as a declaration of sovereignty of digital resources by developing countries.

The bidding time was tight, with the bid deadline being May 8, 2025 and the contract award date being May 26. Shortly after the renewal in 2020, Neustar sold the .CO registration business to GoDaddy and gradually withdrew from the front line of operations, perhaps to avoid policy risks and give way to new operators.

At present, international domain name registration giants Afilias and Verisign are potential competitors. As an existing service provider, GoDaddy may remain stable during the transition period, but it will have to face new challenges. In addition, the .CO domain name was approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China in 2018 and can be registered on domestic websites. Its potential in the Asian market may become a consideration in the bidding.