A Montreal firm with the goal of giving Quebec residents and organizations a way of being distinctive on the Web has become the first to register a Canadian provincial top level Internet domain name.
PointQuebec, a not-for-profit partly funded by the Quebec government, has been awarded the .quebec domain now, with plans to become a domain name registry so others in the province can use the extension.
It comes as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) continues to issue new generic top level domain names such as .click, .hosting, .army and geographic names like. .durban and .wales.
According to a report on CBC.ca, PointQuebec is the first company to be granted a Canadian provincial domain name. The report also says the company hopes to start selling permits for individuals and organizations to use the .quebec suffix on Nov. 13. Pre-registration will start Sept. 2.
Pricing has yet to be announced.
On its Web site the company says having a .quebec suffix will mean Internet users will have a tool to find and be found quickly on the Web.
A number of Quebec-based corporations use the .com suffix (like Videotron, the Bank of Montreal, Le Mouvement des caisses Desjardins and the Jean Coutu Groupe) or .ca (like BCE Inc.). Provincial departments use gouv.qc.ca. Nationalistic organizations — likely including the provincial government — are expected to want to use the .quebec domain.