Official Launch of the Palestinian Top Level Domain .PS

And Opening Ceremony of PNINA

 Ramallah, Palestine (4/4/2005)

 H.E. the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mr. Ahmed Qurei  announced the official launch of the Palestinian country code on the Internet (.PS ccTLD) and the Opening of the Palestinian National Internet Naming Authority (PNINA). The event  take place at 11:00 am on Monday 4/4/2005 at Ramallah Cultural Palace and will be attended by H.E Dr. Sabri Saidam, Minister of Telecom and Information Technology (MTIT), Their Excellencies the Ministers, PLC members, diplomatic representatives to the PNA, international organizations and IT companies and professionals in Palestine. The event  broadcasted over the Internet through the link www.live.ps

 In its efforts to spread the usage of the Palestinian identity in cyberspace, PNINA will announce several initiatives that aim at boosting the registrations under the .PS during its first year of operation. These initiatives will include free registration for all Palestinian schools, higher education institutions under sch.ps and edu.ps. A special second level domain (Kids.ps) will be available for registration by all Palestinian kids under 18 for free. Professional domains such as doctors.ps, lawyers.ps and writers.ps and many more will also be available for free.

 It is estimated that there are between 3000-5000 Palestinian and Palestinian-related websites registered under general top-level-domains such as .com, .net and .org. The .PS will help Palestinian businesses in branding Palestinian technology capabilities to boost their recognition and perceived value; bonding the geographically dispersed Palestinians on-line with one identity and building equal business stature with other nations which will improve Palestine’s position and opportunities.

 During the .PS sunrise period, PNINA was able to secure about 1,250 domain names for local Palestinian trademark owners and international companies. PNINA is registering .PS domain names through more than 20 certified registrars from Palestine and around the globe. With its official opening, PNINA will launch a comprehensive marketing and advertising campaign that will target in its first phase the Palestinian community inside Palestine and then move to the Palestinians outside Palestine and the Arab world.

 PNINA will announce the reduction of domain registration fees with additional savings on multiple year registration or renewal. The target is to take the .PS domain names to competitive prices with general top-level domains. As a new ccTLD .PS offers vast and exciting opportunities for claiming valuable on-line real estate with key words that can identify Palestinian business in a unique and memorable way. Global domain names industry witnessed a flourish period during 2004 and the first quarter of 2005 and the .PS will take advantages of these positive impacts on the local and International IT markets.

 The official launch and the opening ceremony are sponsored by the USAID/DAI, Arab Bank, UNDP and Paltel.

The Event Photos

Local & International Media Coverage

Al-ayyam Daily Newspaper

Al-quds Daily Newspaper

Al-hayat Al-jdida Daily Newspaper

Palestine News Agency- WAFA

Swiss- Info

BBC Arabic

Al-watanvoice E-newspaper

The Palestinian Information Center

Arab 48

Haaretz

The Media Line