The organisation revealed that its more than 110 accredited registrars around the world have started accepting priority registrations from registered trademarks and service marks holders as well as governments in the region, and will do so until end of the month.

DotAsia announced the Sunrise period schedule in June, divided into three distinct phases to ensure the stable and orderly introduction of the .Asia extension.

The official opening of .Asia registration is expected to usher a new era in the region, with an Internet platform that provides value for companies from the region, as well as enterprises looking to expand to Asia.

“We strongly believe that a .Asia domain name will provide value for business worldwide to speak and show their commitment to the Asia market, and for companies in Asia to establish a globally recognized and regionally significant presence online,” announced Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia
Organisation.

He continued:

“Beyond just brand protection, .Asia domain can be an asset to an enterprise’s corporate identity and can be utilized as a portal or gateway to the whole Asia market. Even for companies who may already have a presence in some specific countries in the region, .Asia provides value for showing commitment for the rest of Asia.”

The three phases of the Sunrise period are:

• Sunrise 1 (SR1), which is for Governmental Reserved Names;
• Sunrise 2 (SR2), which provides priority for registered trademarks and service marks holders to register their corresponding domains, in which the process isfurther broken down into SR2a, SR2b and SR2c; and
• Sunrise 3 (SR3), which allows companies in the region to protect and use their name with the .Asia domain.

SR2b, SR2c and SR3 will commence on November 13, 2007, and close on January 15, 2008. Priorities for each phase will be maintained.

Members of the public will be allowed to register their interest from February 2008, following which, .Asia web addresses will be generally available from March next year.