Radix, Tucows and Namecheap Win .online Auction

Domain industry veterans form a "global supply chain supergroup," secure the first viable alternative to .com

TORONTO, Nov. 10, 2014 /CNW/ - A newly formed entity owned by Radix, Tucows and Namecheap won the auction to operate the .online registry for an undisclosed amount.

In the past year, dozens of new generic top level domains (gTLDs) from .actor to .wtf have brought meaning to the letters after the dot for niche constituencies and content. Soon, domain registrants will have one broad, intuitive, uncluttered alternative to .com for almost any initiative online.

They will also have a registry operator that is up to the task.

Radix is poised to join the largest registries in the world with applications to operate 20 suffixes and a warchest of over $30 million to ensure its success.

Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX;TSX:TC) operates OpenSRS, the largest wholesale domain name registrar in the world, with over 14,000 resellers in 150 countries and 14 million domains under management.

Namecheap is one of the most popular retail domain name services in the world, with over four million domains under management, two million direct customers, best-in-class user interfaces and outstanding customer support.

Together, the three companies bring unparalleled domain name experience and global distribution. That is fitting for .online, which perhaps brings unparalleled global relevance and appeal.

"Online" is the most commonly used word to end domain names, with over 550K .com domain names today ending with the word "online." In addition, the .online extension has been amongst the top most pre-registered names across registrars.

".online is the one new gTLD that requires no explanation," chanted Radix CEO Bhavin Turakhia, Tucows CEO Elliot Noss and Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall. On the count of three, the CEOs continued, "We are excited to leverage our joint capabilities to bring this exciting new generic to the global market."

Each of Radix, Tucows and NameCheap will contribute $4 to $5 million to cover the cost of the auction and the initial funding of seed capital for the registry. Tucows will treat its contribution as an investment for the purposes of financial reporting.

.online is expected to be generally available for registrations in early 2015.

About Radix
Radix (Radix FZC), is an active participant in ICANN's process to expand the internet naming system and introduce new, meaningful internet addresses. Radix is Asia's largest new gTLD applicant under this program with applications to operate 20 suffixes including web, .music, .blog, and .shop. The company has invested over $30 Million in securing licenses to operate these new extensions and expects to play a large role in the global diversification of the internet namespace.

About Tucows
Tucows is a provider of network access, domain name and other Internet services. OpenSRS (http://opensrs.com) manages over fourteen million domain names and millions of value-added services through a global reseller network of over 13,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover (http://hover.com) is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. Ting (https://ting.com) is a mobile phone service provider dedicated to bringing clarity and control to US mobile phone users.  More information can be found on Tucows' corporate website (http://tucows.com).

About Namecheap
Namecheap is a Los Angeles-based ICANN-accredited domain registrar, founded in 2000 by CEO Richard Kirkendall. With over four million domains under management and two million direct customers, Namecheap is one of the top domain registrars and web hosting providers in the world. For more information, visit https://www.namecheap.com.

SOURCE: Tucows Inc.

For further information:

Tucows Contact:
Lawrence Chamberlain
TMX Equicom
[phone] ext. 257
[e-mail]