What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?  Well, people would remark, ‘A lot!’.  Your name should tell people a lot about yourself but most importantly, it sets you apart; it identifies you.  But its not unique as it never quite sets you apart from everyone else.  Chances are you will always find someone else who shares your name.  “Jack” is Britian’s most popular name and perhaps as testament to its growing Muslim populace, Thomas has been replaced by Muhammad as second most popular.

But wait a minute; this article is about computers, it is about the internet and an intro on names is as ‘geeky’ as I can be?  Names are also important on the internet and that’s why I must make this analogy.  Unlike names we use for humans, names on the internet must also be unique – if there must be a Jack, it must be the only Jack on the internet!

Which really brings me to what I wanted to blog about today. Domain names, ccTLD are some of the most popular words in my vocabulary, I hear, talk and read about them almost every day as part of my job. Now I am no expert yet but I have a few ideas on what discussions on these words may entail.

When people think about the internet, about websites they immediately think of ‘mydomainname.com’. That is the second level domain, 2TLD. Chances are your domain name of choice would have been taken unless it is something very unique like the name of your Solomon Islands village. Having said that, there are villages in the Solomon Islands called California, Jerusalem, Bethlehem; I was referring to, for example Rakao, Fiu or Ofatabu.

But registering a 2TLD is probably the wrong approach if your intended target is very specific to a geographic location or better still a country. Which brings me to the ccTLD – the Country Code Top Level Domain, .sb in the case of the Solomon Islands. Former CE to Our Telekom, Martyn Robinson once asked me why we were .sb and not .si? At that time, I guessed it was because .si had been given to some other country and so we were left with what ever the Internet gods gave us, which was .sb. It wasn’t until a year later that I was able to confirm when attending an ICANN meet that it had been the case.

So why are we seeing some most Solomon Island’s most popular websites still sporting a top level domain, ie, a .com domain. We have solomonstarnews.com, flysolomons.com, solomontimes.com and solomonchambers.com; perhaps the first three being the most prominent flagships that bear some Solomon identity on the world wide web. I believe it is neither a matter of choice nor an informed decision; it is the myth that to have a website means licensing a .com domain. NOTE: Our Telekom has since persuaded the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce to register a ccTLD, www.solomonchambers.com.sb; a bit longer but they were happy to oblige.

I say get off the .com bandwagon, license and rebrand yourself as a ccTLD if you truly wish to have a Solomon Islands presence on the internet. Why not www.solomonstarnews.com.sb, flysolomons.com.sb. Certainly in today’s world where everyone has become a bit more internet savvy, we could proudly announce ourselves as Solomon Islands on the World Wide Web.

Alas, I must also admit that Our Telekom as the custodians of the .sb ccTLD are not doing enough to promote its use in the country; even to raise the level of awareness. Hence, when anyone wants a website, they all head off and register a 2TLD. Our Telekom must also act in the interest of Solomon Islands by putting into place policies that safeguard the use, the licensing and propagation of this asset.

What’s in a name? On the Internet, it is your unique identity; it should tell everyone who you are, where you are from, what you do and how you do your business.