At the signing ceremony held in Hong Kong today, New Cyber also launched PRCname.com, a multilingual international domain name registration service that is compliant with i-DNS.net's multilingual domain name technology. This service will be available in China immediately, and is anticipated to be rolled out to the other Chinese-speaking markets by 2001.
“With non-English speakers poised to become a majority on the Web, it is imperative that the current Internet Domain Name System (DNS) is able to accommodate scripts that aren’t based on the Roman alphabet,” said Michael Ng, CEO of i-DNS.net International. “This collaboration with New Cyber will not only bridge this digital divide to Internet users, but will also allow these users to master the Internet and access value resources in a language that they are comfortable in.”
Chinese-language domain names have been made available by i-DNS.net since the start of this year. The company has since established partnerships with strong local entities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, United States and Australia to further its Chinese-language domain names offerings. Most recently, the company announced a strategic tie-up with Network Solutions Registry, as well as agreements with leading ICANN-accredited registrars like Register.com, Melbourne IT and OnlineNIC.
According to a recent Verisign report, China will experience a dramatic growth in Internet adoption over the next three years. There are currently 2 million Internet users in China, and analysts expect this number to grow five-fold to 10 million by 2001, and 200 million by 2007.
There already has been a significant increase in the number of websites containing local language content. Because establishing a domain name is the first step to creating an online presence, the availability of multilingual domain names is therefore a natural evolution to ensure a truly global and inclusive Internet.
“One of the factors that has hindered the development of China’s new economy in the global arena is the people’s discomfort in using English as the primary language of communication in the Internet,” said Sam Khamkoon, CEO of New Cyber. “Empowered by i-DNS.net’s multilingual domain name technology, we are able to leverage our extensive network in China, and facilitate the spread of Internet usage to the vast majority of the population.”
With New Cyber's strong alliance network in more than 15 provinces in the Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern parts of China, both companies expect to increase the number of Chinese domain names by more than 100,000 over the next 12 months.
This alliance also underscores China’s own IT and Internet strategy to work with foreign entities in the telecommunications and Internet industries to accelerate the opening of its market by increasing the number of Chinese websites.
“As the industry trailblazer, we are poised at the start of an exciting time in the New Economy, added Ng. “Together with New Cyber, i-DNS.net will conduct an intensive awareness program to cultivate the importance and relevance of Chinese language Internet to the net users in the China market.”
About New Cyber
New Cyber International Limited is founded in 2000 by a team of professionals from international and multi-disciplinary background. The aim of the company is to leverage on its knowledge in technology and international business and its network of alliance in China, to provide technology arbitration between Western and Chinese companies. New Cyber’s alliances in China include, i-DNS.net International Inc., i-Email.net Pte. Limited, General Atlantic Partners, LLC, Shanghai Mecox Lane International Mail Order Company Limited, and Alibaba.com.
