Ought to We Expect .Com Price Increases, Too?
Yes. The question is how much.
VeriSign is in the process of trying to renew its contract with ICANN to run .net. It includes significant price increases similar to its current contract.
Ought to we expect VeriSign to ask for continuing .com price increases as well? Of course.
On the firm’s recent investor conference call, analyst Todd Raker of Deutsche Bank AG asked:
And can you talk regarding — as you went through the .net renewal process, are there any takeaways that we can apply to our thinking regarding the .com process coming up?
VeriSign CEO Mark McLaughlin responded:
Todd, we’re in the .net renewal process. I just want to make that clear. We’re in the midst of the 30-day comment period that ICANN has for the negotiated terms between VeriSign and ICANN. We can expect that contract renewed by July 1. I think, the highest level — the terms of the .net contract and the .com contract are almost identical. Really, only difference between the 2 is that for .com, in addition to negotiating — in addition to getting renewed with ICANN, we have to seek Department of Commerce approval.
My guess is that VeriSign tries to renew the .com contract under generally the same terms as it’s last contract, counting 7% price increases. Maybe it will ask for the ability to raise the prices every year, instead of 4 of 6 years.
