Launched alongside .com in January 1985, .net was originally intended for network operators, internet service providers, and infrastructure companies. Verisign runs the registry on the same platform that powers .com, giving .net identical technical resilience, DNSSEC support, and global DNS distribution. Roughly thirteen million names remain registered under it, making .net one of the oldest and most stable extensions available.
The extension still carries its engineering heritage, which works in favour of hosting resellers, telecoms firms, and connectivity providers across ATCOS's markets. A fibre installer in Johannesburg, a VoIP provider in Nairobi, or a managed-services agency in Leeds signals technical competence with a .net address. It also serves as a strong fallback when the .com you want is taken but rebranding is off the table.
Through ATCOS Domains you register .net on GoDaddy's wholesale platform with the same account that holds your other names, hosting, and mailboxes. Adding SSL and professional email at purchase keeps every service under one renewal calendar, which matters when an agency is juggling dozens of client domains.
Live .net pricing — including multi-year and renewal rates — is shown at checkout before you commit. No surprises, no checkout-only fees.
Who .net is built for
- Internet service providers and fibre operators in Kenya and Nigeria can present infrastructure credentials clearly by putting their corporate site on a .net domain.
- Web agencies that resell hosting often place client control panels, nameservers, and status pages on a .net to separate infrastructure from marketing sites.
- A South African IT support firm whose preferred .com is taken keeps its exact brand name by choosing .net instead of settling for a distorted spelling.
- Freelance sysadmins and DevOps consultants in the UK or Netherlands use .net personal sites to signal hands-on technical depth to prospective contract clients.
- SMEs building customer portals or APIs sometimes register a companion .net so application traffic and brand marketing live on cleanly separated domains.
No eligibility rules apply to .net; despite its networking origins, anyone anywhere may register. Standard ICANN policies govern transfers, expiry, and dispute resolution under the UDRP.
.net — Frequently asked questions
Is .net only for network companies?
No. The networking designation was a convention from the 1980s that was never enforced, and today .net registration is completely open. Plenty of software firms, agencies, and even community projects use it simply because the shorter, older extensions inspire more confidence than newer alternatives. That said, its heritage means technology businesses arguably extract the most brand value from it.
Who operates the .net registry?
Verisign has managed .net continuously under successive ICANN agreements, running it on the same registry infrastructure as .com from data centres distributed worldwide. The zone is DNSSEC-signed at the registry level, and Verisign's constellation of resolution sites means .net names answer quickly from Lagos, Nairobi, and London alike. ATCOS Domains interfaces with Verisign through GoDaddy's accredited registrar platform.
Can I register a .net for up to ten years?
Yes. Like other legacy generic extensions, .net supports registration terms from one to ten years, and you can extend at any point provided the total never exceeds a decade ahead. Locking in multiple years shields a business from future price adjustments and removes the annual-renewal failure mode that has cost many companies a domain they depended on.
Does .net support internationalised domain names?
It does. Verisign accepts IDN registrations under .net across many scripts, so names containing accented characters or non-Latin alphabets can be registered where the registrar supports them. For businesses serving Dutch or Irish audiences the standard Latin range usually suffices, but the capability matters for brands protecting themselves across multiple languages and character sets.