The Restena Foundation (Réseau Téléinformatique de l'Éducation Nationale et de la Recherche) has announced the future availability of over 2,800 new .lu domain names.
From 31 August to 15 December 2020, through its DNS-LU service operating the national registry for .lu, the Restena Foundation is progressively opening the registration of .lu domain names with one and two characters and enabling more than 2,800 new .lu registration possibilities.
Spread over a period of 15 weeks, the introduction of more than 2,800 possibilities of new .lu registrations represents an opportunity to get a .lu domain name and to address the Luxembourg market with a familiar label, associate the identity of Luxembourg with a business beyond national borders, identify the Luxembourgish origin of goods and services and show an attachment to the Grand Duchy.
In order to provide fair and equal access to these new registrations, the Restena Foundation, following the example of some of its European counterparts, is opening up the access to the registration of one and two character .lu domain names in three phases:
- from 31 August to 30 October 2020, during the "Sunrise" phase, holders of registered trademarks as well as corporations and companies can apply for a priority registration if the trademark or name is identical to the requested one or two character domain name. Domain names are allocated on the basis of application files, submitted by interested parties to the Restena Foundation’s DNS-LU service by Friday 2 October 2020 at the latest. After this date, and until 30 October 2020, the applications will be assessed and registrations finalised;
- from 2 November to 14 December 2020, during the "Landrush" phase, any individual or legal entity may try to acquire domain names with one or two characters not yet allocated in the previous phase. This is performed through an online tender process, attributing each domain name to the highest bidder. The dedicated platform will be accessible from 19 October 2020 at 1-2.dns.lu. From this date on, it will be possible to create a user account and preview the auction process. However, auctions will start only Monday 2 November 2020 for a minimum duration of two weeks;
- on 15 December 2020, the "General Availability" phase will start. The one and two character domain names not previously allocated will be available for registration, like any other .lu domain name, through the accredited registrars for .lu.
The Restena Foundation manages the DNS (Domain Name System) infrastructure along with all the technical aspects concerning domain name registration, including IT systems and the related procedures. As such, it guarantees the availability of domain names under .lu from any point of the internet. In the early 2000s, due to software defects and security considerations, the registration of the then possible two-character domain names was suspended. On the one hand, as the years have passed, these limitations have become obsolete, but on the other hand, the need and recurring demand from corporations, institutions and individuals in favour of the registration of .lu domain names with one or two characters suiting their activities have become increasingly urgent. All indicators have therefore turned green allowing to open access to the registration of these domain names.
