Changes are coming to .co domains: Good reasons to renew now

Do you have any .co domains? Any .co domains that are due for renewal in the next month or so? This news is for you. At the end of this week, major technical and operational changes are coming to the .co registry. Like any big tech project, there’s a chance that teething problems or outages might affect systems after the work is done.

So we are recommending that you take care of any upcoming renewals and lock in any new registrations before the weekend.

The big change: A new .co registry operator

GoDaddy has operated the .co registry for the last 15 years, but as Domain Name Wire has reported, their partnership with the owners is ending:

After 15 years, the rights to operate Colombia’s .co domain name extension is changing hands. The country has awarded a 10-year contract to manage the popular domain to Equipo PuntoCo, a newly formed joint venture between Team Internet (AIM: TIG, OTCQX: TIGXF) and CCI REG, a Colombian domain name registrar.

This is one of the biggest changes that a domain namespace can go through. It will affect every .co domain in the world. If it goes perfectly, domain owners like you will not notice anything. But that is a very big “if”.

Our advice: Do October’s .co renewals and registrations NOW

For any .co domains you hold with MyHost, we have been a reseller, which puts us another step down the supply chain. It won’t be long before we are a .co registrar, but that’s a story for another day. For now we are depending on both a smooth transition from GoDaddy to PuntoCo, essential for the entire namespace to keep operating as it should, and also for our immediate supplier to have their systems ready to connect to the new operator.

Both these changes are big enough to be inherently difficult, and there is always the risk that something goes wrong. The change is coming at the end of this week—it’s been advertised for 3 October, which is likely to mean 4 October in New Zealand depending on exactly when the switch is flicked.

In any situation like this, we advise that you prepare for the worst. In this particular case, we haven’t received enough information to know for sure what will happen and when. In short, we can’t be confident that everything will go as well as possible. So our advice is:

Don’t get caught out if the worst happens. Plan as if .CO systems will be unavailable from 3 October. Before Friday, make any renewals or registrations that you have planned for the entire month.

Hopefully this is overly cautious. But we gave similar advice in 2022, when InternetNZ upgraded the .nz registry system. Even when we were better informed and our supply chain was shorter, here’s what we suggested:

Big technology projects are hard, and experience has taught us that after a new system is switched on, you can’t always count on everything working perfectly. By renewing domains now, you will avoid the risk of trying to renew domains while teething issues or unexpecting bugs may be affecting the new platform. There’s no downside to renewing domains early. The extra year(s) that you secure are added on from the current expiry date.

The same goes for .co domains today. If you know you want to keep a domain name, it’s never too early to renew, especially when there’s higher-than-usual risk that important systems might experience downtime soon.

Check your domain renewal dates

1. Log into your MyHost account.
2. Open the Domains screen.
3. Click Next Due to order your list of domains by renewal date.
4. If you have any domains due before the end of October, click the down arrow to open the options menu and select Renew Your Domain.

Need any new .co domains before November? Order now

It’s best not to rely on new domain registry systems in their first few days, so if you know of any new .co domains that you are planning to register before November, it is best to get it done now. Then you’ll be using the current system and supply chain, which we know works as it should.

Register domains today, then rest easy knowing that you got the job done before any complications arise.

Only .co domains are affected

All of this advice applies only to .co domains. No other TLDs are affected, so there’s no need to worry about .co.nz or .com domains, for example. If there’s anything else you want to know, just ask.