CircleID

Starting at 6pm GMT on January 10, 2011, a new "zone" of domain names ending with the extension .GR.COM is being launched in a Landrush.

Unlike other domain extensions launched over recent years, no premium "keyword" domains will be withheld from sale, meaning that domains like shop.gr.com, athens.gr.com and games.gr.com are available for registration. Apart from trademarked names such as yahoo.gr.com, paypal.gr.com, philips.gr.com, etc., which were snapped up by the brand owners during an exclusive Sunrise period for registered trademarks, all names are available.

Registrations of .GR.COM domains are totally unrestricted. Anyone, residing in any country, may register as many as they want. Expected customers include:

• Anyone wanting keyword domains
• Any organization using the word "Group" in its name
• Greek and Cypriot registrants
• Anyone wishing to do business in Greece or Cyprus
• Registrants in Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Trademark owners who missed the Sunrise

.GR.COM domains will be available for General Release from February via leading registrars worldwide. Before General Release, they are available in a Landrush through select registrars including 101domain, Domain Monster, and bNamed, and as well as via the official site, domain.gr.com.

.GR.COM is the nineteenth domain extension combining a country code with the .COM suffix — including UK.COM, launched in the United Kingdom in 1994, and .EU.COM, which was launched in Europe in the year 2000.

".GR.COM is a very exciting addition to the global range of domain extensions," said Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic, the company launching the new extension. "GR.COM already enjoys a substantial following among the domain community, with over 3000 Facebook Likes before its launch, and Trademark owners from Ebay to Valvoline took advantage of our restricted Sunrise launch to obtain their .gr.com domains. We expect healthy interest from many people excited to obtain the domain name they want, ending .GR.COM - including very attractive and versatile premium domain names."

About CentralNic

DotBrand Solutions ("DBS") is the world's first consultancy dedicated to obtaining Top-Level Domains for brands and trademark holders, with clients across three continents including The Ooredoo Group, Kuwait Finance House, Etisalat, Saudi Telecom and The Guardian, among others. DotBrand Solutions is a service of CentralNic. (Learn More)

Related topics: Domain Names, Registry Services, Top-Level Domains