.vlaanderen

Status:	Contract Signed
Country:	Belgium
Language:	Dutch
Translates to:	"Flanders"
Manager:	Flemish Government
Registry Provider:	DNS.be
Type:	geographical TLD
More information:

.vlaanderen (.flanders) is a proposed new geographical TLD gTLD from the Flemish government. DNS.be worked with nic.at in preparing the application for the domain name string with ICANN. DNS.be received a 10-years contract from the Flemish government to handle the administrative and technical management of the .vlaanderen domain space.

Vlaanderen is the community of the Flemings, one of the communities of Belgium, and also a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

Application Details

The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:

"Applicant (DNS.be vzw) is the registry operator for .be, the country code TLD for Belgium. Belgium is a federal state that consists of a federal governmental level (representing the country) and several regional governmental levels (representing the different regions Flanders (Vlaanderen), Brussels (Brussel⁄Bruxelles) and Wallonia (Wallonie)) and each having distinct competences. Both the federal level and the regional levels have their own Governments and Parliaments, responsible for policy making and execution. The federal level is competent for matters such as defense, justice, foreign policy, interior⁄home affairs and social security while the regional levels have authority for matters such as economic affairs, foreign trade, energy, housing, education, employment, environment, social welfare, transport, culture and sport.

The Government of Flanders (also known as Flemish Government), representing the region of Flanders, decided to participate in the new gTLD application program with the aim of having the gTLD .vlaanderen attributed to the Applicant. The Government of Flanders published an official request for proposals (RFP) on 23 December 2011 in order to award a service concession contract to a private partner. The private partner would be responsible for applying for the gTLD .vlaanderen through ICANN’s new gTLD program and – if attributed by ICANN – for managing the gTLD as its registry operator for a (extendable) period of 10 years. DNS.be vzw responded to the RFP by submitting a proposal and was subsequently selected by the Government of Flanders and awarded the service concession contract on 20 March 2012.

According to the Applicant, the purpose of the TLD is manifold, as will be further explained below:

i. enable inhabitants, companies, organizations and local government institutions the usage of specific domain names that are closely linked with the geographical region in which they are residing;
ii. enhance the digital presence of the region of Flanders;
iii. strengthen the visibility of Flanders as a region and as a brand name;
iv. allow interested parties from within and outside the region of Flanders to make use of the new gTLD in order to reach potential customers of the region with their offer for services or goods;
v. having a gTLD, matching its geographical name, at its disposal will allow the autonomous region of Flanders to further develop its identity both on-line as off-line.

At the start of the normal registration process, subject to the actual domain name registration policy adopted by the Applicant and in force at the time of registration, domain names will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. As registry operator for .be and as operational, technical partner during the start-up of the .eu TLD, Applicant has acquired the necessary experience to cope with high volume demands for registration of domain names and will deploy adequate technical resources for the start of the so called Landrush phase avoiding to the maximum extent possible any loss of time, elevated costs or high degrees of frustration for individual or business users wishing to register a .vlaanderen domain name."

Contract Signed

On 06 February 2014 DNS.be received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .vlaanderen after passing all the required processes needed to become a Registry Operator for the string.

Availability

After a extensive Sunrise Period and Landrush Period with the help of Pool.com and Valideus the TLD is now in General Availability without restrictions.

Top-Level Domain