Domainincite News：The Colombian government has put the contract to operate the .co domain registry up for bidding, with the potential for the winning operator to earn up to $77 million over the deal’s lifetime.
Currently, GoDaddy manages .co through its subsidiary .CO Internet, which it acquired via Neustar five years ago. Despite previous tensions between the government and the incumbent, the request for proposals (RFP) does not exclude GoDaddy from reapplying.
Unlike a typical backend registry services deal, the new contract requires the operator to serve as the public face of .co, managing front-end services and marketing efforts.
Based on figures from the RFP, GoDaddy’s current share—19% of total revenue—has amounted to approximately $7.7 million per year over the last five years. The new contract will extend for 10 years, making it a significant long-term opportunity for bidders.
However, .co appears to be in decline. In January 2024, there were 3,217,570 .co domains, down from 3.4 million in 2022 and 3.3 million in 2023. While this drop could be part of the broader post-COVID slump affecting many top-level domains (TLDs), it’s worth noting that when GoDaddy took over in 2020, there were only 2.3 million .co domains. This suggests that, despite the recent dip, GoDaddy has contributed to substantial growth in the namespace.
The bidding process will determine whether GoDaddy retains control or if a new operator will take over Colombia’s highly recognized domain extension.
News Source:Domainincite，This article does not represent our position.
