SIDN, the .nl registry, has announced that as of 28th February 2008 purely numeric .nl domain names will be available to everyone as of 12.00 hrs (CET). Numeric domain names are Domains that consist entirely of numbers (e.g. 1234.nl), or of numbers separated by hyphens (e.g. 12-34.nl). In the first few days after registration begins, SIDN expects a ‘landrush’ of people racing to get the ‘best’ combinations. The registry has therefore put into place special measures to prevent any chance of the system overloading. Full details of the start-line arrangements can be found at www.sidn.nl

Between 1 and 14 December 2007, trademark and trading name owners were given the opportunity to reserve a domain name before general domain registration began. The first name to be reserved in the context of this ‘sunrise period’ for numeric .nl domain names was 9292.nl, which was assigned to the organisation 9292.

The travel information provider was very pleased to secure its purely numeric name. ‘The new domain name will make things more straightforward for the consumer. Once it goes live, people won’t have to remember to include the letters ‘OV’ when they want to access our services. Simply because more than half of the Dutch population know us simply as 9292, this will make it easier for our customers to find us on there computers and mobile devices. In other words, becoming the first owner of a numeric .nl name, 9292 will place the company in a better position to realise the objective of providing as much travel information as possible to as many people as possible making car and public transport journeys in the Netherlands. The purely numeric Domain Name is something the company has wanted for the last four years, and were are grateful to SIDN and the wider Internet community for making it possible. We can’t wait for the opportunity to start making use of 9292.nl,’ said Communications Manager Aarnout Mijling.