dot NZ 2018 Registrar Conference highlights

Today I attended the annual dot NZ Domain Name Conference at the Wellington Copthorne Hotel. What a superb day in the capital, hosted by the DNC, NZRS, and InternetNZ. Several registrars were represented and eleven speakers presented on a range of subjects relating to the New Zealand Internet. Here's some of the highlights.

– The NZRS, as an organisation, is being phased out, as there's too many separate bodies
– 81% of Kiwis know what a Domain Name is
– Only 33% of Domain holders know they can register the shorter .nz version
– Mobile phones are now the most-used method to access the web
– mega.co.nz is the most popular .nz website, followed by google.co.nz
– neighbourly.co.nz is the most popular NZ-based .nz website
– Registrars are being encouraged to offer two-factor authentication for customers
– Spark holds 44% of the boradband market, followed by Vodafone (27%), Vocus (13%), Trustpower (5%)
– There are 80 ISPs in New Zealand, with 76 representing 11% of the market
– DSL usage continues to fall as fibre continues to grow
– With already razor-thin margins, it costs $8-$10 to answer a call at an ISP helpdesk
– Chat bots are the future of customer support
– General Data Protection Rules (GDPR) are coming into effect May 25th and affects everybody
– There are now over 700,000 .nz Domains registered
– The DNC will consider whether NZ Domains really need 3 separate contacts
– Domains registered by organizations stay active longer than by individuals
– Despite the March 28 deadline for registrars to offer private registration, many still aren't

Thanks to Sebastian Castro's tweets for helping me remember some of these!