The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the Sultanate of Oman, with the support of ARI Registry Services, officially relaunched the .om country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) today in a move to ensure the ongoing stability and growth of the Internet within the country and greater Gulf region.

ARI Registry Services was selected by the TRA in March 2011 to provide domain name registry software and supporting services to revitalise the .om ccTLD.

The project will also include the launch of ????. (.oman), the Arabic script IDN ccTLD for Oman.

Mohammed Al Kindy, Senior Manager Technical Affairs for the Oman TRA, said the project was important to the ongoing development of the Internet in Oman.

“The relaunch of .om and launch of ????. (.oman) will provide Internet users in Oman with a stable and reliable piece of infrastructure that is based on best practice domain name registry operation. This will provide an opportunity to expand the reach of the Internet in Oman and reinforce its importance as a national asset.

“We thank ARI Registry Services for their support on this project,” Mr Al Kindy said.

Adrian Kinderis, CEO of ARI Registry Services, congratulated the TRA on the relaunch.

“This project represents a significant advancement of the Internet within Oman and reinforces the Government’s commitment to provide the best possible Internet experience to its people. We congratulate the TRA for their foresight and dedication to developing the Internet in their region,” Mr Kinderis said.

“The introduction of ????. (.oman) will position Oman as one of only a few Arabic speaking countries with the capability to allow its citizens to navigate the web in their native language. This is something Oman should be proud of.

“This has been a tremendous project for the team at ARI to be involved in. We have completely customised our solution to address the needs of the TRA and assist them in the revitalisation of a national asset. Our work has included the development of customised registry software to handle the various policy and business requirements that are specific to the region, the purchase and configuration of hardware along with the deployment of staff to implement our licensed product and educate the TRA on its management,” Mr Kinderis said.

With the new infrastructure the TRA has acquired, Oman will be open to more registrars and this will help further develop the .om and ????. (.oman) namespaces.