Dot bangla internet domain registration to start ''shortly'

State-run telco BTCL has 'nearly' completed preparations for user-level registration of dot bangla or .bangla internet domain label.

An agreement for the online registration of the websites with the label had already been made, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited's Director Mir Mohammad Morshed told bdnews24.com o Thursday.

"The entire registration process can be done online at home. The fees will have to be paid through Teletalk," he said.

BTCL is working as the technical contact for the dot bangla domain label.

"The registration process will start soon," the BTCL director said.

A top official of the company said they expected to get Posts and Telecommunications Division's final approval for the proposed registration fee and other issues next week.

He hinted that the registration fee would be between Tk 1000 and 1,500 excluding Value Added Tax and sending charge.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) sent a letter to the government clearing the much-awaited Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) label on Wednesday.

Another ICANN-approved domain label for Bangladesh is dot bd or .bd.

These labels work as a state's recognition, for example - dot UK or .uk websites belong to the United Kingdom.

Now .bangla (.বাংলা in Bangla fonts) is Bangladesh's own Unicode domain label.

According to the BTCL, users have registered 36,500 websites with the dot bd domain label.