SWITCH Gets .CH Registry Contract Extension To 2017

On 20 March 2015, the SWITCH foundation and the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) signed an extension of the existing registry contract to 30 June 2017. But a public tender will be called in 2016 for the operation of the registry from July 2017 onwards.

The contract extension means that SWITCH will retain responsibility for the administration of .ch domain names and support for customers in transferring their .ch domain names to the registrars.

Commenting on the contract extension, the SWITCH foundation said as it has more than 27 years’ experience in operating the registry it offers the best possible protection for the Swiss internet thanks to its dedicated team of security experts. SWITCH is therefore confident that it will continue to be the best choice to operate this critical infrastructure for Switzerland going forward.

There has also been a significant policy change that came into effect on 1 January 2015 that saw the registry stopping selling .ch domain names directly to registrants, and since then it has been handing over the related client support to registrars. At present, some 500,000 .ch domain names are still registered directly with SWITCH by 270,000 clients. SWITCH will in future focus on operating the .ch domain name directory and on ensuring that the Swiss internet remains secure and stable.