Laos is ready to reclaim its authorised ‘.la' internet domain name this year after handing over the rights to an overseas operator for more than ten years.
Laos was given the right to manage the domain name ‘.la' in 1990s by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. However at that time, the country still lacked the infrastructure to manage the system, so the government decided to allow the overseas operator to manage it.
In 2008, the government agreed to set up a National Internet Centre under the National Authority of Post and Telecommunications. The project is worth more than US$20 million with soft loan assistance from China, which is also providing systems installation and technical training. The project began in early 2009.
Director General of the National Internet Centre, Mr So mnuck Phothirath said, “The building is now complete and all equipment is fully installed. Many of our staff have been trained to operate the system and are ready for the task.”
Mr Somnuck said the agreement for the overseas company to operate the system expired last year and the government decided not to renew it.
“We are now ready to manage the system by ourselves and plan to bring back the ‘.la' to Laos by the end of this year,” he said.
According to Mr Somnuck, the centre is continuing work to improve the capacity of its staff. “We now have about 100 staff members at the centre. More than half of them have completed training in China on how to operate the system, and are now receiving further training at the centre.”
He said some of the staff have worked in similar roles elsewhere and many of them have Master's degrees from countries such as Japan, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia, while some trained at technical institutions in Laos.
“We've also had help from Vietnam, which provided assistance to train our staff in their country,” he added.
Mr Somnuck said bringing back ‘.la' to Laos would have benefits for the country and for internet users in Laos.
“It will be easy for the government to control information as it will be like an immigration checkpoint, and it will increase security in the country.
“At the same time, it will generate income directly for the Lao government through management of the system.”
Mr Somnuck said the centre will not only manage the ‘.la' domain name but will also be a centre for the country's internet and telephone systems.
There are currently seven internet operators in Laos and all have to connect to internet centres overseas as the facility does not yet exist in Laos.
“We are now working on linking data to internet operators in Laos.
“The centre will be one portal to connect to overseas and link to operators in Laos. Then the operators won't need to connect to internet centres overseas and that will reduce the costs of internet operators in Laos. “This will make the internet in Laos cheaper. The cost might not go down immediately, but we will try to lower it after an initial transition period,” he said.
Mr Somnuck said the centre would also provide extra information services. “We plan to be a centre to provide information for the public, especially to help foreigners to find out information about Laos. This will help the tourism industry in the country.
“Bringing back country domain name of ‘dot la' will bring economic, social, political and security benefits to Laos,” he said.
By Keoxomphou Sakdavong
(Latest Update July 27, 2010)
