13 Mar 2012 07:00
For immediate release: 13 March 2012
Top Level Domain Holdings Limited
("TLDH", the "Company" or "Group")
Minds+Machines GmbH wins dot NRW contract
The Directors of Top Level Domain Holdings Limited (AIM:TLDH.L), the only publicly traded company focused exclusively on acquiring and operating new generic top-level domains ("TLDs"), are delighted to report that Minds + Machines GmbH, its majority owned registry services business, has been appointed by the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia) to manage the dot NRW top level domain application and ongoing management of the dot NRW domain.
North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's most populous region, with almost 18 million inhabitants and in 2010 generated 21.7% of Germany's gross domestic product, making it the single largest economic region in Germany (source: IT.NRW). The cities of Dusseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund and Essen all lie within North Rhine-Westphalia.
The technical back-end for the dot NRW domain has been sub-contracted by Minds + Machines GmbH to Knipp Medien und Kommunikation GmbH, an experienced domain services company based in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of TLDH, commented:
"We are delighted to have secured this appointment and to be working with Knipp Medien und Kommunikation GmbH and the state of North Rhine-Westphaliain the future running of the domain. We believe new generic top level domains can provide an important mechanism for strengthening the cultural identity of a region online."
Top Level Domain Holdings has now announced geographic and generic gTLD appointments in Germany, India, Africa (.zulu), and New Zealand (.kiwi).
Further Information:
Top Level Domain Holdings Limited
North America
Antony Van Couvering Tel: + 1 917 406 7126
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nomad) Tel +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Roland Cornish
Michael Cornish
XCAP Securities plc (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3216 2661/2667
Karen Kelly
Halimah Hussain
Daniel Stewart & Company plc (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6550
Martin Lampshire
gth media relations
Toby Hall /Suzanne Johnson Walsh Tel: +44 (0) 20 3103 3903/2
Or visit the group's website at www.tldh.org
About Top Level Domain Holdings Limited
Top Level Domain Holding is a publicly traded holding company listed on the London AIM market. The company is focused on the new top-level domain space. Top-level domains, such as .com, run by VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN), and .biz, run by NeuStar (NYSE: NSR), are regulated by ICANN. ICANN has announced plans to expand the number of top-level domains. TLDH intends to make targeted investments in this space, focusing on both infrastructure technologies and specific top-level domains.
About Minds + Machines, http://mindsandmachines.com
Minds + Machines is a registry services provider that works internationally with commercial organisations, cities, not-for-profits and entrepreneurs to secure and operate new web domains, known as top-level domains (TLDs). Minds + Machines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Top Level Domains Holdings, Ltd.
ENDS