.ae

Overview

.ae is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Arab Emirates. Introduced on 1 December 1992, it is administered by .aeDA, part of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA). Registrations are available directly at the second level and at selected third-level labels. The UAE also has an Arabic IDN ccTLD (امارات), represented in Punycode as xn--mgbaam7a8h. DNSSEC status is listed as No.

History

• 1992: .ae introduced (delegated originally to UUNET).
• 1995: Administration transferred to Etisalat (UAEnic) after a brief period under United Arab Emirates University.
• 2003: UAEnic deprecated general use of co.ae in favor of direct second-level registrations; existing co.ae registrations could be retained.
• 2006–2008: TDRA announced re-delegation and created .ae Domain Administration (.aeDA) to manage the ccTLD.
• January 2008: IANA officially re-delegated .ae to TDRA.
• 3 August 2008: .aeDA launched a new EPP-based registry system, adopting a registry–registrar model and enabling automated online registrations.
• 2009–2010: The Arabic IDN امارات (xn--mgbaam7a8h) passed Fast Track String Evaluation and was pursued to promote Arabic-script domain use.

Usage and Audience

• Intended for entities connected with the United Arab Emirates; .ae is described as "very popular" in the UAE.
• Registrants include commercial companies, government entities, educational institutions, non-profits and military authorities using appropriate second- or third-level namespaces (e.g., co.ae, gov.ae, ac.ae/sch.ae, org.ae, mil.ae, net.ae).
• Adoption milestones:
  • Over 90,000 domains reported around 2008.
  • 100,000 registrations announced on 16 September 2012.
  • More than 300,000 domains in the zone as of May 2023.
• The registry operator (.aeDA) also operates the UAE ENUM space (+971), redelegated from Etisalat in April 2009.

Registration Rules

• Registration levels:

  • Second-level registrations: permitted in the unrestricted zone (e.g., example.ae).
  • Third-level registrations: available under specific restricted second-level labels (e.g., example.co.ae, example.gov.ae) with eligibility requirements.

• Common second/third-level labels and eligibility highlights (summarised from registry policies):

  • co.ae: for commercial entities trading in the UAE; registrant must have a valid UAE trade license, be licensed in UAE free zones, or be an applicant/holder of a UAE trademark. Names must match or be closely connected to the registrant's company/trade name or trademark.
  • net.ae: for IT service providers registered in the UAE; requires a valid UAE trade license (including free zones) for IT services, or a relevant trademark.
  • org.ae: for not-for-profit organisations operating in the UAE; requires organizational authorization and supporting registration/certification documents.
  • sch.ae / ac.ae: for schools and academic institutions; applicants must provide relevant registration or authorization from UAE education authorities and ensure an employee is the administrative contact.
  • gov.ae: restricted to UAE government departments and ministries; requires government authorization and official use only.
  • mil.ae: reserved for UAE military authorities; requires proof of status and government authorization; use restricted to official purposes.

• Local presence and documentation: local presence requirements and supporting documentation apply, especially for registrations under restricted third-level labels (e.g., business registration documents, ministry certificates for org, mil, gov, sch, ac).

• Character and length rules:

  • Minimum 2 and maximum 63 characters.
  • Must begin and end with a letter or a number.
  • Allowed characters: English letters (a–z, A–Z), numbers (0–9) and hyphens (-).
  • Cannot begin or end with a hyphen.
  • Cannot contain a hyphen in both the third and fourth positions (i.e., no "-" at positions 3 and 4 together).
  • No spaces allowed.

• Transfers between registrars:

  • Transfers require a domain name password obtainable via .aeDA password recovery.
  • Losing registrars are prohibited from charging a fee for transfers; gaining registrars may charge fees.

• Pricing and commercial notes:

  • Retail prices vary by provider and service level; reported range is roughly USD 30 to USD 200.
  • Prices dropped notably after .aeDA launched automated, EPP-based registration services in August 2008 (prior manual processes were costlier and slower).

• Accredited registrars: .aeDA accredits registrars under a registry–registrar model. As of 6 December 2020, 22 accredited registrars were listed (examples include Etisalat, Du, MarkMonitor, 101Domain and others).

SEO and Brand Impact

• Operational and policy changes introduced by .aeDA (EPP-based registry, registry–registrar model, automated online registration) improved registration speed and reduced prices, contributing to wider adoption.
• Introduction of the Arabic IDN امارات was intended to increase Arabic-script domain use, promote Arabic content, and strengthen national identity online.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Arabic IDN: The UAE Arabic-script ccTLD امارات (Punycode xn--mgbaam7a8h) was one of the first IDN ccTLD strings to pass ICANN's Fast Track String Evaluation (January 2010).
• Redelegation and modernization: IANA re-delegated .ae to TDRA in January 2008; .aeDA took over operations and launched the new registry on 3 August 2008.
• Registration milestones: .aeDA announced 100,000 registrations in September 2012 and reported more than 300,000 domains by May 2023.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       AE

organisation: Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA)
address:      P.O. Box 116688
address:      Dubai
address:      United Arab Emirates (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Director Policies and Programs
organisation: Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA)
address:      P.O. Box 116688
address:      Dubai
address:      United Arab Emirates (the)
phone:        +971 4 7774018
e-mail:       iana@tdra.gov.ae

contact:      technical
name:         Senior Manager .aeDA
organisation: .ae Domain Administration (.aeDA)
address:      P.O. Box 116688
address:      Dubai
address:      United Arab Emirates (the)
phone:        +971 4 7774018
e-mail:       dns@aeda.ae

nserver:      NS1.AEDNS.AE 2a00:d30:120:0:0:0:0:73 79.98.120.73
nserver:      NS2.AEDNS.AE 2a00:d30:121:0:0:0:0:73 79.98.121.73
nserver:      NS4.APNIC.NET 2001:dd8:12:0:0:0:0:53 202.12.31.53
nserver:      NSEXT-PCH.AEDNS.AE 199.4.137.1 2001:500:7d:0:0:0:0:1

whois:        whois.aeda.net.ae

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://aeda.ae/

created:      1992-12-01
changed:      2021-10-19
source:       IANA