Yesterday ICANN, the internet governing body, agreed a major proposal to the way Top Level Domains work, which could see many new domain name extensions on the market in 2009.

Internet users are currently restricted to a limited number of domain extensions, for example the popular .com, .co.uk, .net and suchlike. ICANN’s proposal will mean the removal of this restriction, enabling registrars to apply for new extensions that are more appropriate to their customers.

However, applying for a new domain extension (TLD) will be very different from registering a new domain name, with each new top-level-domain costing a minimum of $100,000, strictly limited to companies and entrepreneurs.

In addition, the ICANN proposal will also mean that domain extensions could be supported in new languages, no longer restricted to the current 37 Roman Characters.

A final version of the proposal will need to be approved by the ICANN Board before the changes begin to take place - this is expected to be in early 2009. Applications for new domain extensions are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2009.

Fasthosts is very excited by the opportunity that this major change will present for our customers and of course, we will keep you informed of developments as they happen, through into 2009.

Find out more in ICANN’s FAQs

BT have just announced that, for security reasons, they are now preventing BT Yahoo! Broadband users from sending emails from software such as Microsoft Outlook and Thunderbird, when the “From” email address is not a BT Yahoo! email address or a “validated alternative email address”. Last month, Sky stopped the use of their SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) servers to send emails.

Both of these changes have meant that many Sky and BT Yahoo! broadband users have been unable to send email until they change their SMTP settings, or in the case of BT Yahoo! customers, go through a process of validating their email address.

We’d like to take this opportunity to remind customers that Fasthosts provides a useful ”Roaming SMTP” feature with our Advanced and Microsoft Exchange mailboxes.

Fasthosts Roaming SMTP enables you to send email using your PC software, regardless of your broadband provider (so it’s great for laptop users!). If your broadband provider stops the use of their SMTP servers, you won’t be affected if you have a Fasthosts Advanced or Exchange mailbox using our SMTP settings.

Standard POP3 mailboxes can be upgraded to Advanced mailboxes easily (and instantly!) using Fasthosts’ award-winning control panel. New Advanced and Exchange mailboxes can added to any Fasthosts web hosting or email hosting package.

Find out more about the range of mailboxes we offer, and read our email software setup guides for more details on using our SMTP servers.

Experience the Fasthosts advantage
Some big-name email and web hosting providers don’t provide their own SMTP servers. Their customers have no choice but to use the SMTP servers provided by their broadband provider (which makes things a bit tricky for some BT and Sky broadband users now). Fasthosts provides a business-grade email hosting infrastructure with SMTP plus advanced virus & spam protection, from as little as £1.25pm!
Get up and running with Fasthosts email today

Microsoft have provided a complete Exchange sales training Webinar, currently available to Fasthosts resellers only, to compliment the existing Exchange sales toolkit. Providing essential information to help increase Exchange email sales, the Webinar comprises 8 downloadable videos, covering topics including opportunity drivers and targeting customers, plus overcoming common objections and competing with on-premises solutions.

Fasthosts resellers can now download the Webinar videos from the reseller portal.

You can now get Microsoft Office 2007 for your PC from only £4.99 per month, from Fasthosts, including popular software packages like Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Manageable monthly price - with no contract ties
Simply sign up for the service and download Microsoft Office 2007 directly to your PC for a manageable monthly price - no need to buy the boxed product, saving hundreds of pounds in up-front costs. There’s no minimum contract, giving you the freedom to use the software on a month-by-month basis without further obligation.
 

No need for CDs or the boxed product
Streamed directly to your PC, you have access to fully functioning software and any additional features or updates (including security updates) will be automatically installed - including the latest version of the software. So when Office 2009 is released, you can have that streamed to your PC at no extra cost!

Find out more about this great new service
Existing Fasthosts customers - add MS Office 2007 in your control panel today!