Latest VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief
Underscores Growth of Internet Internationally
Q2 Report Spotlights Importance of Global Reach for Domain Name Registrars
Mountain View, CA – August 29, 2007 – The number of domain
names registered globally now totals more than 138 million, according
to the second quarter 2007 Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign,
Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the leading provider of digital infrastructure
for the networked world.
The largest top-level domains (TLD) in terms of total
base of registrations are .com, .de (Germany), .net, .uk (United Kingdom),
.cn (China) and .org. A factor in the expansion of domain name
registrations in the second quarter was strong growth in country code
TLD (ccTLD) registrations, such as China (.cn), Russia (.ru) and South
Korea (.kr). ccTLDs grew to about 51.5 million by the end of the
second quarter, approximately 13 percent more than the first quarter
of 2007, and 36 percent more than the same quarter of last year.
Other gTLDs saw growth as well, including .com and .net, which grew
to 73 million domain name registrations.
Not surprisingly, as domain name registrations increased,
so have the demands on the registry infrastructures that enable users
to register domain names, access Web sites, send emails or conduct commerce
and communications. VeriSign’s registry infrastructure continued to
experience heavy demand, processing a peak of 30 billion Domain Name
System (DNS) queries per day in the second quarter. The VeriSign DNS
continued to maintain operational accuracy and stability for 100 percent
of the time as it has for the past nine years. As part of its commitment
to continually strengthen its infrastructure, VeriSign in February announced
Project Titan, a major initiative to expand and diversify the capacity
of its global Internet infrastructure by ten times by the year 2010.
“As the Internet grows and becomes more global, so
does the challenge to ensure that businesses and Internet users throughout
the world can rely upon it,” said Raynor Dahlquist, vice president of
Naming Services at VeriSign. “VeriSign is focused on ensuring that as
the Internet develops, it remains accessible and operational around
the world.”
The latest VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief also
underscores the growing importance of international business for the
more than 840 .com and .net domain name registrars throughout the world.
These registrars and their resellers comprise the channel through which
domain names are registered. A recent survey conducted by VeriSign
found that 80 percent of all registrars draw business from countries
outside their home country. Overall, registrars say they view expansion
to other countries as an attractive way to build their businesses, with
a third of those surveyed planning to expand geographically in the next
12 months.
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 2007 second 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
VeriSign Industry Analyst Relations: Katie Sheldon Hammler, khammler@verisign.com
703.948.4367
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 increasing competition and
pricing pressure from competing services offered at prices below its
prices and market acceptance of its existing services, the inability
of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new services and the
uncertainty of whether new services as provided by VeriSign will achieve
market acceptance or result in any revenues and the risk acquired businesses
will not be integrated successfully and unanticipated costs of such
integration. 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,
2006 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form
8-K. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking
statements after the date of this presentation.
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