NIC Mexico, the non-profit organization that manages the allocation of IP address space to Mexican Internet Service Providers, today announced the official U.S. launch of the TLD, .LAT, aimed at helping Latino Internet users establish an online presence with latin identity in the U.S. and around the world.
The announcement was made during the 2015 AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing’s 2015 Annual Conference, held in Miami, Florida. As the premier multicultural marketing conference with an attendance of more than 500 corporate and agency executives, the AHAA conference features dynamic and interactive sessions with notable newsmakers, C-suite leaders and top trendsetters in the industry. Research presented at the conference indicated a growing need for an online community that provides individual users, companies and other organizations, the opportunity to identify their name, business, product, and/or brand with the rapidly growing U.S. Hispanic market. There are currently 53 million¹ Hispanics in the U.S. with an estimated purchasing power of $1.5 trillion in 2015, according to a Nielsen report.
“Through .LAT, we look forward to creating networking opportunities for Latinos across the U.S., knowing they are part of a platform that offers them the opportunity to gain credibility, protect their assets, and instill a sense of belonging,” said Anthony Harris, executive director of eCOM-LAC. “As we move forward with the next phase of expansion, and open up registration to a wider audience, we move closer to connecting with a growing market that is tech savvy and knows how to celebrate its culture.”
Wrapping up its initial Sunrise and Quiet phases, where registration was only open to official Trademark Clearinghouse approved trademark holders applying for the .LAT domain that matched their brands, .LAT will soon launch its Landrush phase on May 12. During this phase, all domain names will be available for registration in a descending price scheme that will start at a premium level during the first few days, and will decrease on subsequent days. “We want .LAT domain names to be available so you can register the precise domain name you want, the one that is ideal for your project or your audience, so we have not reserved a list of premium names. Instead of that, we’ll make all domain names available since day one”