Nobleman Runyanga
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) is set to review the country’s domain name system (DNS) framework soon in line with the international best practices. This was announced by the parastatal in a notice this week.
“Persuant to the Authority’s mandate of administering (the) numbering and naming resources for the country, the review is intended to address several weaknesses that have been identified to be inherent in the current framework and to achieve full alignment with international best practices in the DNS arena,” read part of the notice.
POTRAZ further justified the intended review as meant to meet objectives such as to create a framework which is future-proof (and) allows the country to embrace the benefits offered by using the .zw names space, ensure strong uptake of .zw domains, simplify (the) registration of .zw domains to encourage rapid adoption and ensure that there are uniform policies and procedures among the various sub-domains under the .zw namespace among others.
A consultation paper accompanying the notice indicates that currently Zimbabwe’s DNs system was being managed by three bodies which were mandated to do so by POTRAZ which used a tender system to identify them.
“In 2004, POTRAZ delegated the administration of the technical and operational aspects of the DNS in Zimbabwe to TelOne following a tender process in which TelOne emerged as the winner. TelOne then delegated the management of the Second Level Domains (SLDs) of .zw to other organisations, while retaining (the) management of the Country Code top-level Domain (ccTLD) and the .org.zw SLD. The other registries that TelOne delegated the responsibility to are 1) University of Zimbabwe (.ac.zw), 2) the Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association [ZISPA] (.co.zw) and 3) Government Internet Service Provider [GISP] (.gov.zw),” explained POTRAZ in the document.
POTRAZ also pointed out that Zimbabwe does not have a DNS policy.
As a way forward, the regulator is inviting members of the public to contribute their views on the matter until 9 August 2019.
“By this notice, POTRAZ hereby invites public input or comments to the DNS framework consultation paper which is available for downloading from the POTRAZ website or (its) Facebook page,” said the parastatal.
As a way forward, POTRAZ is proposing a new structure for the management of DNS in Zimbabwe and the setting up of a single DNS Registry Platform that will efficiently manage the automation of DNS registration and the implementation of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) system.
POTRAZ proposes to remain the sponsoring organisation, responsible for policy and oversight function of the DNS industry. It will also select the ccTLD registry operator.
In its quest to promote increased access and use of domain names, POTRAZ is proposing that they be offered free of charge.
“In order to increase the uptake of local .zw domain names, there is need to balance between cost and efficiency of the system. The most desirable option is to make domain registration as cheap as possible, that is free. This will allow everyone to afford a domain name,” said POTRAZ in the document.
