Brussels, 06/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - Use of the “.eu” domain name has been constantly on the rise since it was launched exactly five years ago, according to EURid, the “.eu” top-level domain registry designated by the European Commission to manage the domain name. The “.eu” domain name which became available to the public on 7 April 2006 has seen registrations double over the five years of its life. “Today we celebrate .eu's public launch five years ago. Steady growth since then has reinforced .eu's position as one of the world's 10 largest top-level domains. This proves that .eu gives companies an effective means to present themselves online as open for business across Europe”, says Marc Van Wesemael, EURid General Manager.
Within its first month of launch, there were 1.7 million applications for “.eu” registration. Five years later, registrations have doubled to 3.4 million. Growth rates have been particularly strong in Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Estonia, while Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Poland have emerged as the domain name's largest markets. Some countries - Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium and Germany - have shown more growth in “.eu” registrations since April 2006 than in their national domain names. (I.L./transl.rt)