Norid is negotiating with the Dutch registry, SIDN, about a collaboration to make the .bv top-level domain available to the Dutch market.
We have been in dialogue with SIDN for a while about a possible joint effort to utilize .bv in the Netherlands. SIDN is now examining the market potential, and the further process will be decided on when the market analysis is ready.
In addition to the top-level domain (TLD) .no, Norid is responsible for .bv (Bouvet Island) and .sj (Svalbard and Jan Mayen). For the last several years we have considered innovative and efficient ways to make use of them in the growing domain market. Regarding .bv, we keep getting emails from Dutch companies that want to register .bv domain names. In the Netherlands, the abbreviation 'BV' is the equivalent of UK's 'Ltd and Norway's 'AS', which explains the attraction for Dutch companies.
For Norid it is important that a TLD we are responsible for is operated in a way we can vouch for, especially with regard to our values and the quality of the service. It is also important that the operation will not harm the good reputation of .no.
— SIDN operates in line with Norid's values, and is therefore a highly relevant partner with regard to utilizing the resource that is .bv. If .bv is going to be used, Norid and SIDN want the TLD to provide actual value to Dutch domain name holders, not become yet another top-level domain full of defensive registrations, says Managing Director of UNINETT Norid AS, Hilde M. Thunem. — We have also discussed this idea with the Norwegian authorities. They regard the utilization of an unexploited resource as a positive addition to the existing domain market, she adds.
Roelof Meijer, CEO of SIDN, the company that manages the .nl domain, says, — Having this domain alongside our successful country-code domain, .nl, can open up new opportunities. We have a strong relationship with Norid and therefore look forward to working with them, and with the Dutch business community, to make the .bv domain a success.