VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief Shows
Continued Strong Internet Growth
Key Industry Stats and Trends
- 32 percent increase in Top Level Domain (TLD) registrations in 2006
- Registrations average 10.1 million each quarter for 2006
- Historic country code TLD growth of 31 percent; 500,000 fourth quarter
.cn registrations in China alone
- 89 percent increase in Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
- 2006 ended with more than 65 million .com and .net domain names
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – March 5, 2007 – VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:
VRSN), the leading provider of digital infrastructure for the networked
world, today released the VeriSign® Domain Name Industry Brief for the
fourth quarter of 2006. According to the report, which highlights key
industry data for worldwide domain name activity, total domain name
registrations reached 120 million, representing a 32 percent increase
over the previous year, and an eight percent increase over the third
quarter of 2006.
The domain name industry continued to experience strong
growth in the fourth quarter of 2006, with more than 11.6 million new
registered domain names. This figure represents a three percent increase
year over year and a 23 percent increase from the third quarter. There
was an average of 10.1 million new domain names registered each quarter
in 2006, compared to an average of 8.7 million new domain names registered
each quarter in 2005.
Country Code Top Level Domain Names (ccTLDs) increased
31 percent year over year to 43.7 million, and 10 percent from the previous
quarter with more than four million registrations. China added
more than 500,000 domains in the fourth quarter alone, a 43 percent
increase over last quarter.
The base of .com and .net domain names grew to 65
million domain names by the close of 2006, representing a six percent
increase in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of 2006,
and a 30 percent increase year over year. New .com and .net registrations
were added at an average of 2.1 million per month in the fourth quarter
of 2006 for a total of 6.2 million new registrations in the quarter.
Increasing Usage
VeriSign processed an average of 24 billion queries per day in
operating the Internet infrastructure for .com and .net during the fourth
quarter of 2006. The VeriSign Domain Name System (DNS) continued to
maintain operational accuracy and stability for 100 percent of the time
during the fourth quarter of 2006.
"With the number of global DNS queries increasing,
the infrastructure has to be ready to respond," said Ken Silva,
chief security officer, VeriSign. "The network is changing,
and with new services like voice and video migrating to the Internet,
and the proliferation of Internet-enabled devices, it’s important that
the security and capacity requirements keep pace.”
VeriSign recently announced Project Titan, a major
initiative to increase capacity of its Internet infrastructure ten-fold
by 2010 to accommodate the continued growth of the Internet. More
information on VeriSign's Project Titan may be obtained at www.verisign.com/titan.
VeriSign publishes the Domain Name Industry Brief
to provide Internet users throughout the world with significant statistical
and analytical research and data on the domain name industry and the
Internet as a whole. Copies of the 2006 fourth quarter Domain Name Industry
Brief, as well as previous reports, can be obtained at www.verisign.com/domainbrief.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), operates digital infrastructure services
that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the
world’s voice and data networks. Additional news and information about
the company is available at www.verisign.com
Contacts
VeriSign Media Relations: Rufus Manning, rmanning@verisign.com,
703.948.4126
VeriSign Investor Relations: Ken Bond, kbond@verisign.com,
650.426.3744
Statements in this announcement other than historical
data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ
materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements.
The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty
of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly
operating results due to such factors as the inability of VeriSign to
successfully deploy and expand the technology referenced herein, to
successfully develop and market new products and services, and customer
acceptance of any new products or services; the possibility that VeriSign’s
services and announced new services and technology may not result in
additional customers, profits or revenues; and increased competition
and pricing pressures. More information about potential factors that
could affect the company's business and financial results is included
in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including
in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2005 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no
obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the
date of this press release.
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