The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has gained the support of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the League of Arab States to establish a .ARAB Top-Level Domain for use by all stakeholders and communities in the Arab world, ARI Registry Services has revealed.

The project will see the UAE TRA responsible for the application to ICANN and operation of the TLD.

Adrian Kinderis, CEO of ARI Registry Services, welcomed the move.

“The TRA must be commended for their leadership on this important project,” Kinderis said. “A .ARAB new Top-Level Domain will provide a valuable digital asset that will be dedicated to the people living in all the states and territories in the Arab world. For the first time, the Arab world will have the opportunity to create and control an online identity reflective of its culture and society and with the potential to help fuel greater Internet use across the region.”

“ARI Registry Services would like to congratulate the TRA on their commitment to develop the Internet in the region through this groundbreaking initiative. We are strong supporters of the continued development of the Internet in the Arab world through our partnerships in driving the .AE (United Arab Emirates), the .QA (Qatar) and .OM (Oman) country code Top-Level Domains.”

The announcement by ARI Registry Services does not outline the role of ARI Registry Services, nor if there will be an internationalised domain name version of .ARAB, but the company has been encouraging an application for a TLD that would appeal to a pan-Middle East audience for some time. About one year ago, Kinderis gave a presentation about one year ago titled Beyond .com… an Arabian internet revolution, that sort to outline to an audience in the Middle East why they should take advantage of the proposal to apply for a pan-Middle East TLD.