Page 72 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2023

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

TDRA: 300,000 Websites Registered in .ae in 2023

The Telecommunications and Digital
Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA)
announced the registration of more than
46,000 new domain names in the UAE
national domain .ae in 2022, bringing the
total number of registered domain names
to 300,000 until the first quarter of 2023,
an increase rate of nearly 20% compared to
2022. Thus, .ae is the most used national
domain and one of the fastest growing
domains in the Arab region. This increase
reflects the interest of government
entities, individuals and companies to use
the national domain due to its benefits,
including giving credibility to the work of the
registered entity, in addition to preserving
the intellectual and commercial property
rights of trademark owners. .ae has many
features, most importantly providing
the best user experience, availability of
distinguished names and abbreviations
with the ability to match the name to
the official website, trademark, e-mail or
blog. Entities and individuals can register
their activities automatically and, in a few
minutes, through a list of TDRA-approved
registrars to register domain names. The have 23 accredited companies in the UAE that prevent misuse of technology and
list is available on TDRA’s official website. competing in providing domain registration safeguard the digital society. The steady
Commenting on the importance of services at competitive prices.” Al Marzouqi increase in the number of registrants in.ae,
registering entities and individuals in .ae, added: “The domain name is an integral part which amounted to 20% last year, reflects
Eng. Abdulrahman Al Marzouqi, Director of the trademark of any organization, and the economic importance of the UAE, as
of Policies and Programs Department we at TDRA attach exceptional importance a major economic hub in the Middle East.
at TDRA, said: “The UAE has the most to the protection of trademark owners. Examples of international companies that
developed and competitive economy in We have embodied this by developing a use the .ae domain include, but are not
the region, and this gives an important fair dispute policy to protect trademark limited to, Amazon and Google. In order
advantage for businesses and companies owners. TDRA also uses the services of the to develop the UAE national domain, .ae
that own a .ae domain, as it enhances the World Intellectual Property Organization to website, supported by ChatGPT, was
confidence of customers and partners with make unbiased judgments.” In addition to launched this year. It provides several
the organization that owns the domain. facilitating the identification of the entity advantages such as speed and the
This is added to many benefits, including and optimizing it on search engine, .ae suggestion of distinctive names based on
the ease of obtaining a domain, the speed facilitates the follow-up of the registration the user’s description of their commercial
of the procedure, and the possibility of process and registrants to achieve a activity. ChatGPT technology also supports
obtaining a name that matches the nature secure digital society. This is achieved by search in Arabic and the local dialect in
of the business or its name. Today, we developing and implementing clear policies addition to the English language.

Egyptian Government Sells 9.5% Stake in Telecom Egypt

Egypt’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has underway yesterday (14 May) and will run that had been offered up. Commenting on
confirmed the sale of a 9.5% stake in local until 25 May, although it noted this second the stake sale, a statement issued by the
fixed line incumbent Telecom Egypt (TE) for tranche of shares is only being offered to MoF noted that the development formed
around EGP3.747 billion (USD121 million). TE employees. According to regional news part of government efforts to expand the
Announcing the development – which has outlet Zawya, a large portion of the 9.5% ownership base of state-owned companies,
reduced the government’s stake in TE to stake recently sold was acquired by local with a view to ‘maximizing the contributions
70.5% – the Ministry revealed that the sale investors, with foreign investors laying of the private sector in economic activity’.
of a further 0.5% stake in the company got claim to just a limited number of the shares
72 MAY-JUNE 2023