Albania Electronic and Postal Communications Authority
 | |
| Type: | Non-Profit |
| Industry: | Internet |
| Founded: | 1998 |
| Headquarters: | Str. Abdi Toptani Torre Drin, Flor IX |
| Country: | Albania |
| Website: | akep.al |
Albania Electronic and Postal Communications Authority, or AKEP is the organization which manages the .al ccTLD. Its domains are sold through registrars, of which AKEP has five, as of 2015. By necessity and policy, all registrars which sell .al domains are Albanian companies.[1]
The ccTLD is an open ccTLD, where foreign companies and individuals can register .al domains, although registration for .com.al, .net.al, and .org.al names are still restricted to Albanian companies.[1]
.al History[edit | edit source]
The .al ccTLD was first created on April 21st, 1992, under an initiative of the University of Tirana's Faculty of Natural Sciences, located within its Department of Informatics. It officially became a registry in 1998, when it became a "sponsoring organization" and began defining the rules and procedures under which domain names would be delegated to users.[1]
Its original master servers were hosted in Pisa, Italy, but were later transferred to Albania.[1]
In 2010, regulatory policies for the registration of .al changed, so that all companies and individuals with Albanian citizenship and nationality were able to register a .al ccTLD.[1]
In 2013, the restrictions were lifted so that foreign companies and individuals can now register .al domains. It was also the same year that .al saw its first accredited registrars.[1]
AKEP has accredited 5 Registrars and main condition is that only Albanian Companies can be accredited as .al Registrars.