From October 1, 2010, the registration of domain addresses in the “.am” zone costs 12,000 AMD (about U.S. $33) instead of the previous 13,200 AMD (U.S. $36). This cost is high as compared with prices in the “com” or “info” zones.

Armenian domains show extremely slow development rates, Igor Mkrtumyan, Chairman of the Internet Society NGO, told NEWS.am-Innovation. He pointed out that the number of Armenian domains has shown a 10% increase since last year. In 2009, 12,000 domains were registered in Armenia, and they number 13,500 now.

“A total of three million domains are annually registered in Russia, and 12 million domains in Germany. So more domains are registered in Germany daily than in Armenia in 15 years,” Mkrtumyan said. The lower registration cost will by no means influence the number of domains, as it is the business environment rather than the registration cost that matters.

“Armenian small and medium-sized companies frequently face numerous problems, trying to survive. So such issues as domain or websites are often overlooked. In European countries, however, every booth has its domain,” Mkrtumyan said.

Albert Toneyan, Director of the Web Company told NEWS.am-Innovation that the lower registration cost will hardly have any impact on the Armenian domain market.

“I think more and more domains will be registered, and they will be more affordable,” he said.

Andranik Alexanyan, Director of the Arminco Company, said that the domain registration cost is not high, and companies can find necessary funds. “Companies do not often need it, though some progress has recently been registered,” he said.

Gevorg Ediagaryan, Sales Manager, Cornet-AM Company, is sure that the new registration cost will not cause any serious changes