$60 Fee For .BM Domain Names Now In Effect

April 14, 2015

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement advising the public that the registration of .BM domain names is no longer a free service, and as of April 1st, 2015, they incur a $60 annual registration fee.

This follows after MPs approved an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act in the House of Assembly last month to pave the way for  the $60 annual fee for Bermuda domains.

A spokesperson said, “As of April 1st 2015 a $60 registration fee was implemented in the recent parliamentary session for new domain name registrations and an annual renewal fee of $60 upon the registration date of currently registered domain names.

“The annual renewal fee is due on the expiration day/month of your domain name referenced by the “Registration Accepted Date” listed on the bermudanic.bm for your domain name. There are no exemptions from the fees.

“There will be a one month grace period given for registrations that are due to expire in the month of April 2015, so registrants will have until the end of May 2015 to renew their domain name. Registrants should go on to bermudanic.bm to perform a WHOIS look up search of their domain name, to obtain their registration date.

“In addition, the registration of domain names is no longer restricted to registered companies, charities or organizations, but is now open to members of the public. However, individuals are required to provide proof of local address.

Registrar General Aubrey Pennyman said, “.BM domain names can be registered by any person that is a resident of Bermuda, which is an advantage to those who have been unable to register a .BM domain name previously.

“The Registry General is also in the process of acquiring a new robust online registration system for domain name registrations. We will also be providing DNS hosting in the near future, for an additional fee. Providing this one-stop-shop service will save clients the additional hassle of having to seek the services of another web host provider.”

The Acting Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Grant Gibbons, said: “This is a change for Bermuda, as we were possibly the only jurisdiction that did not charge for its country code top level domain name. The new fee will support the implementation of the new online registration system and allow for more efficient administration of the .BM domain names for clients.”

Until the new system is installed, payments can only be made at the Registry General Office, on the 4th floor of the Government Administration Building. Once the system has been installed, all payments will be made online.

“Although it is just as convenient and in most cases cheaper to have a .COM domain name, having a .BM domain name is specific to Bermuda and is beneficial in targeting the local market,”Mr. Pennyman explained.

“For entrepreneurs, whether providing goods or services on-island and/or overseas, a .BM domain name identifies your business as a Bermuda based business. It also may be a bit more difficult finding .COM domain names available when using key words associated with your business, as opposed to using a .BM.

“Another benefit of having a .BM domain name is a search engine advantage, as Google has location-specific settings for many countries, allowing users to search the specific TLD or for results relevant to their area.”

Any inquiries can be directed to dnsmanager@gov.bm.

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Comments (11)

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  1. .com says:

    Could we not just go with .com addresses and pay about $10 a year?

    • Onion says:

      You can. And get them more easily and with better service.

      This just ended the .bm as a viable option.

      • theothersidebermuda says:

        It is still a viable option if the .com you want is taken. If you are a serious business and the .bm is available and the .com isn’t, then the $50 difference is more than worth it from a marketing standpoint. There is nothing more ridiculous when a Bermuda company has an email/domain address that is so long just to find something that works (e.g. bermudarealestateandrentals.com….just pay the $60 and get something that says you’re legit and serious about doing business). Now if the .com is available, different story but certainly not the death of the .bm. In fact, with it now being open to the public, my guess is you will see very little fall, if not a small increase, over the years.

        • Huh? says:

          Or if you want a domain name that associates your company’s name with poop. Maybe we could go out and get a better TLD at least for sixty bucks? There is no way that I am going to pay that for such an unappealing and unrecognisable domain.

  2. infidelguy says:

    I foresee a mass exodus from the .BM domain in the near future. I see no problem with charging for domain names but $60 is way over the top.

    Let’s hope they at least improve their web portal. At the moment it is pathetic!
    It should be modified so that it is self-service and fully automated. At the moment it is an archaic, manual, time consuming process which could take as long as a week before your domain is processed.

  3. Whistling Frog says:

    This reminds me of the banks who first told its shareholders (Customers) ” Use the internet to do all your transactions and check your balances, its free” Now there’s a charge to for it.” One bank up to $35.00 monthly.

  4. Triangle Drifter says:

    There comes a point where where you say ‘screw it’. I don’t need your $60 .BM or some other rediculous fee. I don’t need that class G or H car & the license fee that you charge. I don’t need other things that Government charges way too uch for & gives nothing or little in return. I am tired of being screwed over by Government which just wastes the money away.

    Keep your .BM. Nobody knows or cares what .BM is anyway.

  5. Huh? says:

    charities should get .org.bm domains for free.

  6. another farce says:

    good luck getting a response emailing dnsmanager@gov.bm.

    Gov should use the whois database to automatically email us when our name comes up for renewal instead of having us all check…there will be an uproar when one of the Re’s gets its .bm shutdown for not renewing on time.

    Why not wait until your new portal is ready to accept online payment instead of making us walk in payments. How archaic. Hopefully the faxing in of information will go away as well.

  7. Ignorance is not bliss says:

    So $0.164 per day is too expensive for a .bm name but some people pay twenty fives times + that daily for one designer coffee.

  8. Tony Brannon says:

    Complete rip off….
    This is nickel & dime annoyance….