.PT, the ccTLD of Portugal, has registered a rise of 100,000 domain names in the year 2017 and has now neared the 1 million mark. The rise of ccTLDs, according to the Portuguese ccTLD registry DNS.PT Association, is because of the flexible attitude of the Portuguese government who have adopted a multi-stakeholder governance (MSI) policy.
DNS.PT say that the MSI policy allows many businesses to come together and give a viewpoint that is flexible for all stakeholders. This, according to DNS.PT, has allowed more businesses to register domains in Portugal. They further added that with respect to the growth of domain registrations in Europe, .PT has always managed to be in the top 5.
According to industry watchers, the rising internet penetration in Portugal has also been one of the prime reasons behind the rise of domain registrations. They further added that according to Digital Economy Study conducted in Portugal, the number of internet users in Portugal has increased by 36% in the last 5 years and is estimated to rise by 86% by 2020.
The .PT registry has been active since 1988 but it wasn’t until 2013 that first-come first-serve registration was made available for businesses and individuals. This event is seen as a turning point in the history of .PT registrations. It will be interesting to watch how the registry take .PT registrations forward in the future.