UK domain registrations hit five million mark

The number of .uk domain registrations has hit five million with the registration of Hosepipebanbuster.co.uk.

Accoring to Nominet, the .uk domain name registry, the landmark registration was registered on 16 May 2006 by Watermatics Ltd, an irrigation company based in Hertfordshire.

When it was founded in 1996, Nominet registered 2,000 .uk registrations in its first month of operation. It is now the world's fourth largest internet registry and handles 144,000 registrations every month.

It says 57 per cent of domain names registered are associated with a live website, which means that there are almost 3 million active .uk websites online.

Lesley Cowley, chief executive at Nominet, said: "The UK market for domain names remains incredibly buoyant, with companies increasingly building a web presence into their central business strategy."

Half of .uk domain names link to e-commerce or business information sites, with a further 16 per cent displaying 'under construction' holding pages for businesses or individuals.

http://www.nominet.org.uk