Following ICANN’s delegation of the Welsh gTLDs .cymru and .wales, Nominet has published an update on the timetable for their availability.

       From 1 September, businesses that have already registered their trademarks with ICANN’s Trademark Clearing House can begin the process of registering their new Welsh domains. The second registration phase, which gives Welsh businesses priority, starts in November with availability to the general public beginning on St David’s Day, 1 March 2015.

       The Nominet announcement notes “Wales occupies a special place in the UK and in the world, with a distinctive identity and culture, and of course its own language. With the new .cymru and .wales web addresses there will now be a truly Welsh space on the internet. Strong backing for the new domain names has already come from a host of organisations that will be the first to switch to underline their Welsh identity online, among them the Welsh Government, S4C, the National Assembly for Wales, Sport Wales, the Federation of Small Businesses Wales, the Scarlets rugby team and the Arts Council for Wales.”