New .nz registry is going live on 1 November

They say good things take time, and it’s true for our .nz registry replacement project. We started it in good old pre-COVID times in October 2019. We partnered with our Canadian counterpart, CIRA, amid the global pandemic in April 2021. Despite lockdowns, quarantines and equipment delivery delays, we never stopped building a new home for the .nz registry.

And we are now at the very last leg of this incredible journey, preparing to deploy the InternetNZ Registry System on 1 November 2022. It’s a world-class platform that uses industry-standard protocols, and it will be the trusted home for all .nz domains for years to come.

It’s not the first time InternetNZ has moved the .nz registry to a new modern platform. Exactly 20 years ago, in October 2002, our bespoke Shared Registry System, SRS, went live.

Over the two decades, the SRS went through a complete life cycle and is now ready for a replacement. Over the last couple of years, it took a lot of hard work from InternetNZ, CIRA, and the .nz registrar community. But it all pays off now as we are on target to migrate the .nz registry in just a few weeks.

As I write this blog post, 96% of .nz registrars have confirmed that they finished testing the new registry system and are ready for the big move. These registrars manage almost 96% of all .nz domains.

It’s crunch time now, and we are moving towards reaching 100%, ensuring that all .nz registrars are prepared for the migration by 1 November.