".air"
 
 
 
 
 
 

TOP LEVEL DOMAIN APPLICATION
 
 

REGISTRY OPERATOR'S PROPOSAL
 
 
 
 
 
 

Submission to ICANN
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SITA Information Networking Computing BV



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

29th September, 2000

 

Registry Operator's Proposal


[ A Registry Operator's Proposal is to be submitted as part of every new TLD application. In case of applications for unsponsored TLDs, the registry operator will be the applicant and should prepare and submit the proposal as part of the application. In the case of applications for sponsored TLDs, the sponsoring organization (or, where the sponsoring organization has not yet been formed, organization(s) or person(s) proposing to form the sponsoring organization) will be the applicant. The sponsoring organization should select the proposed registry operator, have it prepare the Registry Operator's Proposal, and submit it as part of the application.

Please place the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" on any part of your description that you have listed in item F3.1 of your Statement of Requested Confidential Treatment of Materials Submitted.

The Registry Operator's Proposal should be separately bound (if more than one volume, please sequentially number them) and labeled: "Registry Operator's Proposal" and must cover all topics described below. This page, signed on behalf of the registry operator, should be included at the front of the Registry Operator's Proposal.]
 
 

I. GENERAL INFORMATION
 
 

D1. The first section of the Registry Operator's Proposal (after the signed copy of this page) should be a listing of the following information about the registry operator. Please key your responses to the designators (D1, D2, D3, etc.) below.

D2. The full legal name, principal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the registry operator.

Legal Name: SITA Information Networking Computing BV – SITA INC

Principal Address: Heathrowstraat 10 (Sloterdijk), 1043CH Amsterdam

The Nertherlands

Telephone: +31 20 606 9100 Fax: +31 20 606 9700

e-mail:     philippe.marco@sita.int

                            rowan.gilmore@sita.int

D3. The addresses and telephone and fax numbers of all other business locations of the registry operator.

Switzerland:         26, Chemin de Joinville, B.P. 31, 1216 Cointrin / Geneva           Headquarters          Tel: +41 22 747 6111           Fax: +41 22 747 6110  
USA:                     3100 Cumberland Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30339
                                  Tel: +1 770 850 4500           Fax: +1 770 612 2265

Brazil:                    Avenida Rio Branco 1, 13 andar, 20090-003, Rio de Janeiro RJ
                                  Tel: +55 (0)21 514 6600      Fax: +55(0)21 253 6214

UK:                        Capital Place, 120 Bath Road, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 5AN
                                  Tel: +44 (0) 208 476 4500   Fax: +44(0) 208 476 4637

Italy:                       Via Nicaragua 10, 00040 Pomezia
                                  Tel: +39 06 911 67 511        Fax: +39 06 911 67 505

Lebanon:              Asco Centre, Sassine Square, Achrafieh, PO Box 11-6275, Beirut
                                  Tel: +961 (0) 1 331 414        Fax: +961 (0) 1 204 983

South Africa:        Anderson Place, 52 Anderson Street, PO Box 1648, Johannesburg
                                  Tel: +27 (0)11 803 9202       Fax: +27 (0)11 803 9203

Singapore:           11 Loyang Way, Singapore 508723
                                  Tel: +65 548 2643                 Fax: +65 548 2635

Australia:               Level 11, 37 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
                                  Tel: +61 (0)2 9240 1440       Fax: +65 (0)2 9247 9330

Japan:                   Shinjuku NS Building, 24th Floor, 2-4-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo
                                  Tel: +81 (0)3 3344 8663       Fax: +81 (0)3 3344 8669

Hong Kong:         12/F Centre Point, 181-185 Gloucester Road, Wanchai
                                  Tel: +852 2831 4504             Fax: +852 2831 4588
 

 D4. The registry operator's type of business entity (e.g., corporation, partnership, etc.) and law (e.g., Denmark) under which it is organized. SITA INC BV is organized under a group holding structure. SITA INC NV, registered in Amsterdam under the law of The Netherlands, holds 100% of SITA INC BV, the operating company. D5. URL of registry operator's principal world wide web site.
http://www.sita.int
 D6. Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number (if any) of registry operator. Not available. D7. Number of employees. SITA INC has been in operation since 1st January 2000 and is presently in a transition phase. A significant portion of SITA INC employees (currently over 6'000) will be hired under a SITA INC contract during the coming months. D8. Registry operator's total revenue (in US dollars) in the last-ended fiscal year. SITA INC has only been operational for less than a year. However, the revenue for 2000 is expected to exceed $400M. D9. Full names and positions of (i) all directors, (ii) all officers, (iii) all relevant managers, and (iv) any persons or entities owning five percent or more of registry operator. 1) SITA INC BV Management Board :

John Oliver Watson Managing Director

2) Officers :

Raymond Vaude Corporate Secretary

3) Managers:

René Azoulai Director Infrastructure Services & Chief Strategy Officer

Michael Whiddett Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Jean-Marc Bouvier Vice President & General Manager e-Business,

New Ventures & Professional Services

4) Shareholder :

Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques, SC
 

 D10. Name, telephone and fax number, and e-mail address of person to contact for additional information regarding this proposal. If there are multiple people, please list all their names, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses and describe the areas as to which each should be contacted. For General Information in relation to the ".air" Registry Operator’s Proposal :

Philippe Marco Tel: +41 22 747 6877 Fax: +41 22 747 6734

philippe.marco@sita.int

For Technical Information in relation to the ".air" Registry Operator’s Proposal :

Yvon Bori Tel: +1 514 985 3710 Fax: +1 514 847 3400

yvon.bori@sita.int
 

 D11. The full legal name, principal address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address, and Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number (if any) of all subcontractors identified in item D15.3 below. Not applicable II. BUSINESS CAPABILITIES AND PLAN
 
  D12. The second section of the Registry Operator's Proposal (after the "General Information" section) is a description of the registry operator's Business Capabilities and Plan. This section must include a comprehensive, professional-quality business plan that provides detailed, verified business and financial information about the registry operator. The topics listed below are representative of the type of subjects that will be covered in the Business Capabilities and Plan section of the Registry Operator's Proposal.

[ ICANN will extensively review and analyze this section of the Registry Operator's Proposal. The content, clarity, and professionalism of this section will be important factors in ICANN's evaluation of applications. We strongly recommend securing professional assistance from financial and management consultants to aid in the formulation of your business plan, in securing the necessary sources of financing, and in preparation of this section.]

D13. The Business Capabilities and Plan section should consist of at least the following:

D13.1. Detailed description of the registry operator's capabilities. This should describe general capabilities and activities. This description also offers the registry operator an opportunity to demonstrate the extent of its business and managerial expertise in activities relevant to the operation of the proposed registry. The following items should, at a bare minimum, be covered : On 1st January 2000 a new company, called SITA Information Networking Computing BV (SITA INC), was created.

SITA INC is part of the SITA Group, along with SITA SC a non-for-profit co-operative owned by the Air Transport Community.

The new commercial venture SITA INC aims to develop innovative solutions to meet changing air transport customer requirements, including:

 Ongoing transfer of resource and skills from SITA SC is agreed on a project basis. SITA INC has, therefore, the capacity to allocate the adequate resource and competencies from SITA SC to create a specific department to operate the Registry for the ".air" Top Level Domain.

SITA INC is composed of the Customer Infrastructure and Desktop Integration Services (CIDS) unit and the SITA Application Services (SAS) unit. Together they will generate over $400M revenue for 2000.

SITA INC is sharing the SITA Group Services Operations like Help desk structure, Field Services & Maintenance, Tools & Business Support Systems.
 

 D13.1.1. Company information. Date of formation, legal status, primary location, size of staff, formal alliances, references, corporate or other structure, ownership structure. SITA Information Networking Computing BV (SITA INC)

Date of formation: 05 November 1999

Legal Status:          Please to refer to the Articles of Association in Appendix D4.

Primary Location(s):

Legal:                     10, Heathrowstraat,1043CH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Headquarters:       26, Chemin de Joinville, B.P. 31, 1216 Geneva, Switzerland

The company will transfer, on a project basis, staff from SITA SC (more than 6’000 staff worldwide).

The company is owned by SITA SC as unique shareholder.

SITA INC BV is organized under a holding called SITA INC NV registered in Amsterdam, under the law of The Netherlands.
 

 D13.1.2. Current business operations. Core capabilities, services offered, products offered, duration of provision of services and products. SITA INC is organized in units to deliver high-end IT solutions to Airlines, Airports, Aircraft, Aerospace and Freight industries.

SITA INC provides to the Air Transport Industry:

 The product and services offered are: The security and the reliability of the offered services are of prime criteria within the Air Transport Industry. There is no duration limitation in relation to the provisioning, support and maintenance of the above mentioned products and services. D13.1.3. Past business operations/entity history. History, date of formation, legal status/type of entity, initial services, duration of provision of services and products. SITA INC is a commercial venture operational since 1st January 2000. It was created from SITA SC, a co-operative alliance formed by the Air Transport Community (Airlines, Airports, Aerospace manufacturers, regulators and so on) owning one of the largest data and voice telecommunications networks in the world.

As an initial service the goal of SITA INC is to fulfil the changing customer business requirements within the Air Transport Industry, mainly ignited by the Internet technology, by providing state-of-the-art IP based integrated solutions.
 

 D13.1.4. Registry / database / Internet related experience and activities. Experience with database operation, Internet service provision. 1) For five years SITA has been providing DNS services and domain name registrations for their Internet customers as well as for their private communities of customers (i.e. the Aeronet, Virtual Private Network for the aerospace industry trading exchanges).

Part of this service is a fully managed DNS infrastructure with decentralized centers in London, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Sydney and Singapore providing a 24x7 support.

SITA DNS services all together are handling more than 7 millions DNS queries a day.

2) Employing state-of-the-art technology, experienced security professionals, and leveraging its worldwide presence, SITA Security division delivers worldwide security solutions to its customers. The security solutions product line covers a range of technologies that provide a full spectrum of protection. This ranges from assessing risk and defining the policies that govern an organization’s security posture, to network, IT and e-business security implementation activities and 24x7 information systems monitoring. In addition, SITA has been accredited by auditors Deloitte & Touche to become an official Digital Certification Authority for the air-transport industry. This activity required similar infrastructure, skills and know-how as those required for a Registry Operation service, such as systems management, database integration, network and server monitoring, security policies and procedures etc.

As a result of both these activities all infrastructure, hardware, software and competencies required for a registry operation are already in existence within SITA.
 

 D13.1.5. Mission. The registry operator's mission and how it relates to expansion into the registry operation field. The mission of SITA INC is to provide a wide variety of value-added IT services and solutions to the Air Transport Industry. A major role of SITA INC is to become an enabler of e-Business for this industry. The provision of the TLD Registry Operation Services is fully in line with its mission. D13.1.6. Management. Qualifications and experience of financial and business officers and other relevant employees. Please address/include past experience, resumes, references, biographies. John Watson - Managing Director SITA INC NV

John Watson joined SITA in 1996 as Director General and in 1999 also became Managing Director of SITA Information, Networking and Computing NV (SITA INC NV), a commercial entity operating alongside the cooperative SITA SC.

John has extensive knowledge of the air transport industry and of the strategic use of e-business, e-commerce and IT in transforming business efficiency. He is the driving force behind the strategy that has transformed SITA from a global network operator to a provider of a wide range of integrated IT infrastructure and value-added solutions to the air transport industry, earning revenues of over US$1.4 billion in 1999.

Prior to SITA, John was at British Airways, which he joined in 1971 as Organization and Methods specialist. While in this role he was involved in many aspects of merging BEA and BOAC systems. In 1979 he was appointed General Manager, Computer Development.

John subsequently held a number of executive positions in British Airways including Director of Information Management, Director of Human Resources and Director of Regions and Sales. He was elected to the SITA Board of Directors in 1983, prior to being elected Vice-Chairman in 1989.

In June 1990 he became Chairman of SITA’s Board of Directors and played a major strategic role in the development of the organization which led to the restructuring of the group.

A graduate in Mathematics from Glasgow University in Scotland, John Watson first worked for Singer Manufacturing Company and the Western Regional Hospital Board. John was born in Glasgow and now resides in Geneva, Switzerland.

Rene Azoulai - Managing Director Infrastructure Services & Chief Strategy Officer,

Rene Azoulai is responsible for worldwide strategy as well as for the management of two business units: Network Services and Customer Infrastructure & Desktop Services. This includes the development and management of a full-range of integrated telecommunications and infrastructure services for the Air Transport community. Other responsibilities are corporate planning, pricing, research on future services and communications.

Rene Azoulai began his career at SITA in 1987 as Product Line Manager for messaging services. He has also held positions of Director of Order Processing Customer Services and lately Senior Vice President Marketing and Business Development.

A graduate engineer from France’s Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications, Rene Azoulai has been involved in the international telecommunications industry for 13 years. His areas of expertise include developing corporate strategies for SITA, managing a worldwide marketing organisation, network services and strategic alliances.

Michael Whiddett - Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Michael assumed the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for SITA in November 1999, having joined SITA in November 1998. Leading SITA’s financial and management accounting, he is actively involved in the strategic planning and development of the organization.

He was educated privately in England and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1969. Mike’s grounding in finance came as a partner of a City of London firm of Chartered Accountants for eight years. From there he moved to become the Finance Director of a UK listed group with businesses in finance, services and property.

In 1988 Mike joined global airline reservations system joint venture, GALILEO, as Head of Corporate Finance, and became its Chief Financial Officer and Chairman of its operating subsidiaries in Germany, France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal. In addition Mike served as a board representative in South Africa and Singapore.

Mike left GALILEO upon its merger with the US APOLLO reservation system, and was recruited by New York based Ogden Corporation as Chief Financial Officer for its Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa Aviation Services Division. In August 1995 Mike moved to ICO Global Communications - the INMARSAT sponsored Global Mobile Communications project - as Senior Vice President and the first Chief Financial Officer.

Jean-Marc Bouvier - Vice President and General Manager e-Business,
New Ventures and Professional Services

Jean- Marc's responsibilities include building both the e.Business and Application Services Provider business in SITA. This new unit encompasses all activities related to the provision of electronic solutions to the Air Transport Community, including electronic documentation, electronic market places and the development of other maintenance and engineering services for both aerospace manufacturers and airlines. E.Business will allow SITA to leverage its revenues from systems integration, consultant services, and data hosting, as well as from newly developed solutions.

Jean-Marc brings strong expertise developed through Executive and Director roles held in such companies as UBS (United Bank of Switzerland), Compaq, Digital Equipment and Morgan Garanty Trust Co. His 25 years of professional experience across Europe and in the U.S.A. have been devoted to sales and marketing management, development and implementation of strategic solutions, managing acquisitions, account management, and 4 years spent specifically in e.Business development and management.

Jean-Marc obtained both a Bachelor’s degree from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, and an MBA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in France.
 

 D13.1.7. Staff / employees. Current staff size, demonstrated ability to expand employee base, hiring policy, employee training, space for additional staff. The staff is transferred on a project basis from SITA SC.

In addition SITA INC is implementing a world-class selection and recruitment process to develop the organization and skills needed to meet their business objectives.
 

To address these issues, the global SITA INC HR services priorities are as follows: D13.1.8. Commercial general liability insurance. Address/include amount of insurance policy, provider of policy, plans for obtaining additional insurance. Provider of Policy:     AXA GLOBAL RISKS
                                    4, Rue Jules Lefebvre
                                    75426 PARIS – FRANCE

Amount of Insurance Policy:     All damages    $5’000’000 per case

Accidental pollution:                                            $2’000’000 per case

Please refer to Appendix D2 - Insurance Certificate.

Plan to increase Insurance Liability is in accordance with the SITA INC growth rate and dedicated projects as it is required.
 
 

 D13.2. Business plan for the proposed registry operations. This section should present a comprehensive business plan for the proposed registry operations. In addition to providing basic information concerning the viability of the proposed operations, this section offers the registry operator an opportunity to demonstrate that it has carefully analyzed the financial and operational aspects of the proposal. At a minimum, factors that should be addressed are: D13.2.1. Services to be provided. A full description of the registry services to be provided. SITA INC as registry’s operator for the ".air" is committed to provide the necessary environment and tools to enable the ".air" domain names registration for the Air transport industry.

SITA INC will manage the domain name allocation in relation to the naming policy defined by the sponsoring organization.

Services are threefold:

 2) Operating the DNS service for ".air" 3) Coordinate ".air" activities and its evolution: These services will allow to set-up a complete structure for the registry operation.
  D13.2.2. Revenue model. A full description of the revenue model, including rates to be charged for various services. The revenue model will be based on the fees perceived for the names registration in the ".air" domain and on registrars charges, in return of the delivered services by SITA INC.

An end-user fee of $50 per name and per year will be perceived to register a new name in the professional ".air" domain. This fee will be distributed to the different contributors in the following manner:

ICANN                                             $2

Registry operator (SITA INC)       $16

Registrar operator                         $30

Sponsoring Organization              $2

A charge imposed to the registrars in return of the service provided for the operation of the registry application ("client side"), includes:

 This charge will be perceived once a year for each registrar and will be of an amount of $20’000.

An end-user fee of $30 will be perceived in case of a change of registrar, with the following contribution repartition:

New registrar                                 $10

SITA INC                                        $16

ICANN                                            $2

Sponsoring Organization             $2

It is expected to have around 5 registrars, due to the size of demand. Less than this number is not realistic, as a comprehensive global distribution is requested.
 

 D13.2.3. Market. Market definition, size, demand, accessibility.
 
  1) Market:

The market target of the ".air" TLD is the Air-Transportation Community including airlines, aerospace and airports. This community will be the most impacted and interested by this new TLD, allowing a higher penetration of the Internet in the air-transportation sector and a naming structure for this professional community.

The average size of this community is as followed:

 These are the major potential clients for a ".air" registration. The demand for ".air" in the air transport industry is high, as there are not enough names today for each company to create a coherent set of names that can preserve the brand image and match the structure of each organization. This will also allow identifying clearly and rapidly companies/entities belonging to the community, improving the marketing, operations, security, etc.

In addition to that, other group will be also interest in the ".air".

These are the:

 The freight forwarders as potential users of the airlines have needs for tracking functions to get a better view on the goods delivery process, including back-office functions. The tracking is a possible service, but other related to the customs, billing, fares, etc. are also potential opportunities and points of interest for the freight forwarders.

This is a group composed of approximately 100 large companies, 1000 of medium size and 9000 small ones.

 The aerospace manufacturers will be potential users of the ".air" domain name to structure and cover their needs on the B-to-B and professional e-Market Place areas.

This is a group composed of 2’000 large and medium size companies. In addition, approximately 10’000 suppliers might also be interested in the new TLD.

 This group is composed of service providers to the airlines companies, the travel industry and other air transport companies and organizations.

This is a very large community, however we shall consider that only 1000 major companies could be interested by a ".air" registration.
 

 This give us a total of at least 6’400 companies potentially interested in the ".air" registration.

As, this market evaluation has been intentionally conservative, it is at this point in time difficult to estimate the adoption of the ".air" domain by small companies within the Air Transport Community which, in fact, represent more than 200’000 companies worldwide.

2) Naming Structure:

The goal of the ".air" TLD is to establish a naming structure for the "air" transport industry and predictive addressing. Thus, a proposition of the naming structure as followed which has an impact on the number of registered names:

Branding:                                 Examples: klm.air, heathrow-port.air

Service Applications:             Examples: checkin.heathrow-port.air

Flight identification:                Examples: af1045.air, ba138.air

Planes identification:              Examples: sw340xxx.air

Generic names:                      Examples: airlines.air, airports.air,

Countries identification:        Examples: usa.air, uk.air, italia.air

Location identification:          Examples: paris.fr.air, atlanta.us.air

Devices on board:                 Examples: flightplan.sw340xxx.air

Devices in airports:               Examples: parking.heathrow-port.air

The spreadsheets in Appendix D1 - Business Plan gives a detailed estimate of the possible registered names both for an optimistic and pessimistic approaches depending on the adoption of the naming convention.

Optimistic market estimate:     259’360 names

Pessimistic market estimate:    94’288 names
 

 D13.2.4. Marketing plan. Advertising, publicity, promotion strategy, advertisement development strategy, relationship with advertising firm. Use of registrars and other marketing channels. The marketing will be done through specialized channels, which are related and focused to the airline industry. This will allow targeting directly the right audience and get the higher benefit from Marketing campaigns.

Advertising on the web sites of the Sponsoring Organization and the members of the ".air" policy group (ANPG, IATA, ICAO, etc.).

Regular seminars and exhibitions organized by those organizations.

Advertising on the SITA Web Site (http://www.sita.int).

Regular promotion and sales visits made by the SITA INC worldwide sales force.

Air Transport professional magazines such as:

 Advertising will also be done on Internet and IT magazines to reach the professional application developers to make them aware of the new opportunity created by the structured ".air" domain.

The objective of this advertising is first a branding recognition and secondly an intent to stimulate the development of value added services by the application providers.

The business plan reflects the investment of an amount of $120’000/year for 2001 and 2002 for advertising in the above mentioned medias and from 2003 to 2005 an amount of $60’000/year.
 

 D13.2.5. Estimated demand for registry services in the new TLD. Projected total demand for registry services in the TLD, effect of projected registration fees, competition. Please provide estimates for at least 10%, 50%, and 90% confidence levels. The ".air" TLD is reserved for the Air Transport Industry.

The main goal of the ".air" TLD is to provide this community with a structured addressing plan.

The structured naming will provided significant security and reliability enhancement in the Air Transport Industry.

In that sense, the ".air" TLD is not in competition with any other domain and the benefit provided by a structured naming reserved to the Air Transport Industry will make the $50 fee charged for name registration comparatively irrelevant.
 
 

Based on the potential market for name registration the estimate is as followed:

Confidence level Number of registrations
 

90%     100’000

50%     180’000

10%     260’000
 

 D13.2.6. Resources required to meet demand. Provide a detailed estimate of all resources (financial, technical, staff, physical plant, customer service, etc.) required to meet the estimated demands, using at least the 10%, 50%, and 90% confidence levels. Assumption:

1) To implement and run the ".air" TLD Registry Operation, it is planned to share the already existing resource in operation for the SITA DNS infrastructure in Montreal. This includes:

 An overhead of 40% is included within the staff cost to cover those related expenses.

2) Specific equipment and software will be installed for ".air" name resolution, registrars front-end, ".air" WHOIS and SRS Application Data Base. Those equipment are detailed in Chapter D13.2.7.

Acquisition Plan:

Q1-2001 3X SUN E250 ".air" name resolution

1x SUN E250 Whois server

Module SUN E 10.000 Host Registry data base

Q2-2001 1X SUN E250 Front end Registrars

CORE SRS software Registry data base

Q1-2002 1X DNS SUN E250 Front end Registrars

3) Specific staff will be hired to run the ".air" operation for systems operation and Help Desk. The implementation of the services will be allocated as a mission to existing staff.

The plan to acquire the resources is the following :

Q1-2001 1x Design Engineer (for 12 months)

1x Implementation Eng. (for 15 months)

Q2-2001 1X System Engineer (full-time)

1X Application Engineer (full-time)

1X Help-desk support (full-time)

Q1-2002 1X Help-desk support (full-time)

This is a total of 4 permanent resources and 2 temporary resources to start the service.

4) Specific communication will be done to brand the ".air" to the ATC and to software developers, as explained in chapter D13.2.4.

5) The following expenditures over 5 years are related to items 2), 3) and 4).
Investment Costs
Running Costs
2001
 Q1
$430,000
$84,000
Q2
$225,000
$210,000
Q3
$30,000
$210,000
Q4
$30,000
$210,000
Total 2001
$715,000
$714,000
2002
 Q1
$80,000
$225,500
Q2
$30,000
$189,250
Q3
$30,000
$189,250
Q4
$30,000
$189,250
Total 2002
$170,000
$793,250
2003
 Q1
$15,000
$191,250
Q2
$15,000
$191,250
Q3
$15,000
$191,250
Q4
$15,000
$191,250
Total 2003
$60,000
$765,000
2004
 Q1
$15,000
$191,250
Q2
$15,000
$191,250
Q3
$15,000
$191,250
Q4
$15,000
$191,250
Total 2004
$60,000
$765,000
2005
 Q1
$15,000
$191,250
Q2
$15,000
$191,250
Q3
$15,000
$191,250
Q4
$15,000
$191,250
Total 2005
$60,000
$765,000
TOTAL
$1,065,000
$3,802,250

  For the detailed view of the cost breakdown (by quarter) on a 5 year basis, please refer to the spreadsheets in Appendix D1 - Business Plan.

The relative low difference between the number of expected registrations at 10% and 90% confidence levels does not allow for significant modification of the capital investment and operational costs, as the infrastructure required will stay the same.
 
 

 D13.2.7. Plans for acquiring necessary systems and facilities. Describe plans for acquiring all necessary systems and facilities for providing the proposed services at each estimated demand level. Provide details as to the scope, cost, and vendor for any significant planned outsourcing. Montreal has been chosen as the operational site for the following reasons: The benefits are an easier, faster and more secure start-up for the ".air" registry operation.

Acquisition Plan:

Q1-2001 3X SUN E250 $150’000 ".air" name resolution

1x SUN E250 $ 50’000 Whois server

Module SUN E 10.000 $200’000 Host Registry data base

Q2-2001 1X SUN E250 $ 50’000 Front end Registrars

CORE SRS software $100’000 Registry data base

Q1-2002 1X DNS SUN E250 $ 50’000 Front end Registrars

Total $600’000 For the detailed view of the cost breakdown (by quarter) on a 5 year basis, please refer to the spreadsheets in Appendix D1 - Business Plan.
  D13.2.8. Staff size/expansion capability. Plans for obtaining the necessary staff resources, capacity for expansion, hiring policy, employee training, space for additional staff, staffing levels needed for provision of expanded technical, support, escrow, and registry services. Due to the potential size of the market, an expansion is more than foreseen. However, as the community is known this expansion will come mainly from the wide adoption of the ".air" naming convention.

The actual staff to run the service is estimated to 4 people (design and implementation engineer not included), that will be located in the SITA Montreal facilities. This office currently is staffed by more than 200 people and the increase of 1 to 2 additional people to support the expansion of the ".air" DNS service can be easily accommodated.

Due to the competency already available inside SITA INC (at technical and operational level), the training will be provided in-house, as well as a support (if required) to ensure a smooth start of the ".air" DNS service.
 

 D13.2.9. Availability of additional management personnel. How will management needs be filled? As already mentioned the ".air" Registry operation will share a number of existing resource within SITA. This is in particular the case for the management. The e-Business department of SITA INC will be able to provide additional management resource to cover the needs.

If the demand for the registry service grows faster than expected, additional staff will be hired and allocated full time to the management of the registry service. In this case the Business Plan will be adapted and the normal hiring process already in place at SITA INC will be used.
 

 D13.2.10. Term of registry agreement. State assumptions regarding the term of any registry agreement with ICANN or the sponsoring organization. Note that the .com/.net/.org registry agreement has a basic term of four years. The ".air" Sponsoring Organization (SO) contract SITA INC to provide the services related to of the ".air" Domain Name Registration.

As set out in the Sponsoring Organization Proposal, the initial contract will be for a term of three years. The contract will include the following:

1) Contractual definition and quality of service that have to be provided:

 2) TLD Policies 3) Domain Name Distribution

SITA INC defines the registrars and establishes the business processes with them.

4) Pricing

SITA INC defines the service pricing in relation to the registry operating cost.

The Policy Group (ANPG) which protects the ATC interest approves the pricing.

5) Billing & Collection

SITA INC is in charge of billing the registrars and collect the sum associated to the registration services from the registrars.

6) Distribution of Contributions

SITA INC distributes the contribution to ICANN and the Sponsoring Organization.

SITA INC will have an "Open Book" policy in favour of the sponsoring organization.

7) Dispute resolution

The contract will follow the standard domain name resolution rules applied by ICANN

8) Non-fulfillment of obligations

In case of non-fulfillment of obligations the Sponsoring Organization may decide to choose another Registry with approval from the ANPG.
 

 D13.2.11. Expected costs associated with the operation of the proposed registry. Please break down the total estimated operational costs by the sources of the costs for each estimated demand level. Be sure to consider the TLD's share of ICANN's cost recovery needs. The cost related to the operation of the proposed registry are summarized in the table hereafter:
Running Costs
2001
 Q1
$84,000
Q2
$210,000
Q3
$210,000
Q4
$210,000
Total 2001
$714,000
2002
 Q1
$225,500
Q2
$189,250
Q3
$189,250
Q4
$189,250
Total 2002
$793,250
2003
 Q1
$191,250
Q2
$191,250
Q3
$191,250
Q4
$191,250
Total 2003
$765,000
2004
 Q1
$191,250
Q2
$191,250
Q3
$191,250
Q4
$191,250
Total 2004
$765,000
2005
 Q1
$191,250
Q2
$191,250
Q3
$191,250
Q4
$191,250
Total 2005
$765,000
TOTAL
$3,802,250

  Within the $50 / name / year registration fee for the ".air" domain, an amount of $2 (4%) is attributed to ICANN. This applies as well on registration renewals. The business plan is based on this assumption.

For a detailed view of the operational costs breakdown (by quarter) on a 5 year basis, please refer to the spreadsheets in Appendix D1 - Business Plan. In these spreadsheets the running costs are exclusively composed of the server maintenance and staff cost. This is due to the fact that the ".air" registry operation will share the facilities in place in Montreal, which includes: building, network access and bandwidth, data base servers, human resource department, finance department & management.
 

 D13.2.12. Expected revenue associated with the operation of the proposed registry. Please show how expected revenue is computed at each estimated demand level. The expected revenue is shown in the following table, based on the revenue model in D13.2.2 and on the volume estimation in D13.2.3 and D13.2.5. The values presented cover an optimistic case and a pessimistic case.
Number of registrations
Number of renewals
Revenue
Number of registrations
Number of renewals
Revenue
Pessimistic
Optimistic
2001
 Q1
0
0
$0
0
0
$0
Q2
0
0
$0
0
0
$0
Q3
4,714
0
$75,430
12,968
0
$207,488
Q4
4,714
0
$75,430
12,968
0
$207,488
Registrar fee
$100,000
$100,000
Total 2001
9,429
0
$250,860
25,936
0
$514,976
2002
 Q1
4,714
0
$75,430
12,968
0
$207,488
Q2
4,714
0
$75,430
12,968
0
$207,488
Q3
4,714
4,714
$150,860
12,968
12,968
$414,976
Q4
4,714
4,714
$150,860
12,968
12,968
$414,976
Registrar fee
$100,000
$100,000
Total 2002
18,858
9,429
$552,580
51,872
25,936
$1,344,928
2003
 Q1
4,714
4,714
$150,860
12,968
12,968
$414,976
Q2
4,714
4,714
$150,860
12,968
12,968
$414,976
Q3
4,714
9,429
$226,290
12,968
25,936
$622,464
Q4
4,714
9,429
$226,290
12,968
25,936
$622,464
Registrar fee
$100,000
$100,000
Total 2003
18,858
47,144
$854,300
51,872
77,808
$2,174,880
2004
 Q1
4,714
9,429
$226,290
12,968
25,936
$622,464
Q2
4,714
9,429
$226,290
12,968
25,936
$622,464
Q3
4,714
14,143
$301,720
12,968
38,904
$829,952
Q4
4,714
14,143
$301,720
12,968
38,904
$829,952
Registrar fee
$100,000
$100,000
Total 2004
18,858
141,431
$1,156,020
51,872
129,680
$3,004,832
2005
 Q1
4,714
14,143
$301,720
12,968
38,904
$829,952
Q2
4,714
14,143
$301,720
12,968
38,904
$829,952
Q3
4,714
18,858
$377,150
12,968
51,872
$1,037,440
Q4
4,714
18,858
$377,150
12,968
51,872
$1,037,440
Registrar fee
$100,000
$100,000
Total 2005
18,858
37,715
$1,457,740
51,872
181,552
$3,834,784

  This estimation implies a possible range of revenues, on a 5 year basis, between $1.5M and $3.8M.
  D13.2.13. Capital requirements. Quantify capital requirements in amount and timing and describe how the capital will be obtained. Specify in detail all sources of capital and the cost of that capital (interest, etc.). Evidence of firm commitment of projected capital needs will substantially increase the credibility of the registry operator's proposal. The investment capital requirement is $1’065’000M.

The registry operation is part of the e-Business department of SITA INC. Who will provide the necessary funding.
 

 D13.2.14. Business risks and opportunities. Describe upside and downside contingencies you have considered and discuss your plans for addressing them. In case of slow adoption of the ".air", additional promotion through the specialized channels will be carried out to speed-up the process. D13.2.15. Registry failure provisions. Please describe in detail your plans for dealing with the possibility of registry failure. These aspects of the registry are described in the TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES AND PLAN in the paragraphs D15.2.1, D15.2.11 and D15.2.13.
  D13.3. Pro-forma financial projections. Please provide detailed pro-forma financial projections, consistent with your business plan, for the demand scenarios that you estimate under item D13.2.5. The pro-formas should show revenue and expense estimates broken down by detailed categories and should be broken down into periods no longer than quarterly. The following tables summarize the revenues and cost on a quarterly base :
Investment Costs
Running Costs
Pessimistic Revenue
Optimistic Revenue
2001
 Q1
$430,000
$84,000
$100,000
$100,000
Q2
$225,000
$210,000
$0
$0
Q3
$30,000
$210,000
$75,430
$207,488
Q4
$30,000
$210,000
$75,430
$207,488
2002
 Q1
$80,000
$225,500
$175,430
$307,488
Q2
$30,000
$189,250
$75,430
$207,488
Q3
$30,000
$189,250
$150,860
$414,976
Q4
$30,000
$189,250
$150,860
$414,976
2003
 Q1
$15,000
$191,250
$250,860
$514,976
Q2
$15,000
$191,250
$150,860
$414,976
Q3
$15,000
$191,250
$226,290
$622,464
Q4
$15,000
$191,250
$226,290
$622,464
2004
 Q1
$15,000
$191,250
$326,290
$722,464
Q2
$15,000
$191,250
$226,290
$622,464
Q3
$15,000
$191,250
$301,720
$829,952
Q4
$15,000
$191,250
$301,720
$829,952
2005
 Q1
$15,000
$191,250
$401,720
$929,952
Q2
$15,000
$191,250
$301,720
$829,952
Q3
$15,000
$191,250
$377,150
$1,037,440
Q4
$15,000
$191,250
$377,150
$1,037,440

  For the detailed view of the costs breakdown and revenues (by quarter) on a 5 year basis, please refer to the spreadsheets in Appendix D1 - Business Plan. Please note that the Business Plan is cash flow based.
  D13.4. Supporting documentation. The following documentation should be provided in support of the Business Capabilities and Plan section: D13.4.1. Registry operator's organizational documents. Documents of incorporation (or similar documents). Please refer to Appendix D3 – Commercial Register.
  D13.4.2. References. A list of significant trade and credit references. Not available.
  D13.4.3. Annual report. The registry operator's most recent annual financial report (or similar document). Audited financials are preferred. Not yet available for SITA INC, the company started on first of January 2000.
  D13.4.4. Proof of capital. Provide evidence of existing capital or firm commitments of capital. Demonstrated access to necessary capital will be carefully scrutinized. Please refer to Appendix D3 – Commercial Register.
  D13.4.5. Proof of insurance. Please provide proof of the insurance described in item D13.1.8. Please refer to Appendix D2 – Insurance Certificate. III. TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES AND PLAN

D14. The third section of the Registry Operator's Proposal is a description of the registry operator's Technical Capabilities and Plan. This section must include a comprehensive, professional-quality technical plan that provides a detailed description of the registry operator's current technical capabilities as well as a full description of the operator's proposed technical solution for establishing and operating all aspects of the registry. The technical plan will require detailed, specific information regarding the technical capabilities of the proposed registry. The topics listed below are representative of the type of subjects that will be covered in the Technical Capabilities and Plan section of the Registry Operator's Proposal.

[ICANN will extensively review and analyze this section of the Registry Operator's Proposal. The content, clarity, and professionalism of this section will be important factors in ICANN's evaluation of applications. We strongly recommend that those who are planning to apply secure professional assistance from engineers and/or other technical consultants to aid in the formulation of the technical plan and the preparation of the Technical Capabilities and Plan section of the Registry Operator's Proposal.]
 
 

D15. The Technical Capabilities and Plan section should consist of at least the following:

D15.1. Detailed description of the registry operator's technical capabilities. This should provide a detailed description of the registry operator's technical capabilities, including information about key technical personnel (qualifications and experience), size of technical workforce, and access to systems development tools. It should also describe the registry operator's significant past achievements. This description offers the registry operator an opportunity to demonstrate the extent of its technical expertise in activities relevant to the operation of the proposed registry. For five years SITA has been working on DNS services and domain name registrations for its Internet connected customers as well as for private communities of customers sharing the same interests.

As a worldwide organization SITA has developed a fully managed DNS infrastructure around the world, with decentralized operational centers providing a 24x7 support.

Domain name registrations are provided to our Internet customers whatever their country and their requested top-level domain name.

SITA registration services are provided from Atlanta and Montreal.

SITA DNS services are provided from London, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Sydney, Singapore.

Operational support is provided at first level from SITA help-desk around the world; at second level from Atlanta, London and Singapore; at third level from Atlanta and Nice; at fourth level from Montreal.

As an indicator, SITA DNS services all together are handling more than 7 millions DNS queries a day.
 

 D15.2. Technical plan for the proposed registry operations. This should present a comprehensive technical plan for the proposed registry operations. In addition to providing basic information concerning the operator's proposed technical solution (with appropriate diagrams), this section offers the registry operator an opportunity to demonstrate that it has carefully analyzed the technical requirements of registry operation. Factors that should be addressed in the technical plan include: The registry activities required for the management of an Internet top-level domain as ".air" involve dedicated team in operational centers offering a 24x7 support, a registry database highly available, secured and monitored, as well as highly performing DNS servers redundant on different locations and continents, with appropriate network connectivity.

Here below is a description of SITA’s ability to answer these criteria.
 

 D15.2.1. General description of proposed facilities and systems. Address all locations of systems. Provide diagrams of all of the systems operating at each location. Address the specific types of systems being used, their capacity, and their interoperability, general availability, and level of security. Describe in detail buildings, hardware, software systems, environmental equipment, Internet connectivity, etc. The following description is based on the use of the SRS system developed by the Council of Registrar (CORE), and its implementation within SITA’s existing network and server farms operational infrastructure (see Appendix D5). SRS provides the most appropriate registry database model and protocol for the registry activity.

The following servers will be located within the SITA Montreal server farm, operated 24x7, with redundant power supply and digit-code access for authorized people.

Network security is optimized using Access Control Lists (ACL) and anti-spoofing rules on Internet boundary routers and Cisco PIX firewalls in charge of traffic filtering, securing Internet Secured Zones (ISZ).
 
 

The main components of the organization around the registry process are:

The front-end server interfacing with Registrars and queuing registration requests before updating the registry database. This server needs internal redundancy as well as redundant and secured network accesses;

This server is accessed through a first network interface on an Internet Secured Zone (ISZ) by the Registrars and forward registration requests to the registry server through a second and private network interface. A third network interface is used for system and application monitoring.

Hardware equipment :

 The second server is stand-by equipment; The server hosting the registry database. A key component of the architecture that needs special care in terms of performance, hardware redundancy, backup, disaster recovery procedure, security and network access;

This server is located on internal LANs, and accessed by the front-end server via a dedicated interface. Registration requests are sent from the front-end server to the registry following the CORE SRS protocol.

Connected to the SITA Montreal server farm it takes advantage of dedicated and secured LANs for each of the following services: server and application monitoring, file transfers, backups.

Hardware equipment:

 From an EMC2 Symmetrix bay, logical hard disk configuration for 200Gb, mirrored; hot swap power supplies;

The Symmetrix bay is backed-up on a StorageTek Tape Library 9740 using Veritas NetBackup.

This server is under Platinum contract with SUN.

 The Whois server provides information on registered domain names. Updates in the Whois database are sent from the registry server following the CORE SRS protocol.

This server is accessed from the Internet community through a first network interface on an Internet Secured Zone (ISZ). The registry server updates the whois database using a private and secured LAN. A third network interface is used for system and application monitoring.

Hardware equipment:

 The second server is stand-by equipment; The DNS provisioning server allows domain name and IP addresses allocation per customer and updates the DNS servers periodically.

SITA operators and the registry server are accessing the DNS provisioning server through a private and secured LAN. Updating the DNS servers with new information is a periodical process. Data flows between the DNS provisioning server and the DNS servers are securely enabled, using restrictions and access control lists depending on communications ports and IP addresses in-between Internet Secured Zones. No access from the Internet is allowed. A third network interface is used for system and application monitoring and a forth one is dedicated to backups on the StorageTek Tape Library.

DNS provisioning is performed using QIP Enterprise 5 from Lucent Technologies.

Hardware equipment:

 The DNS servers provide domain name lookup on the Internet. These servers will be configured as iterative. They will not process recursive DNS queries coming from the Internet. These servers will answer DNS queries with host names and IP addresses of DNS servers managing delegated sub-level domains of ".air".

These servers are accessed from the Internet community through Internet Secured Zones. Only DNS traffic is allowed.

System and application monitoring is performed thanks to a dedicated VPN enabling email alarms and SNMP traps to converge on a centralized console.

Hardware equipment:

 Physical implementation:


 
 

Registration process and support:

SITA will take advantage of his current operational teams supporting managed DNS services around the world, to provide an intensive support for ".air" activities to customers and registrars.
 
 

Network infrastructure:

Worldwide network infrastructure and managed server farms will allow optimized response time and security. Current Internet Belt is as follow:

D15.2.2. Registry-registrar model and protocol. Please describe in detail. The registry-registrar process has been defined by CORE and implemented in the SRS project. This process can be described in the following steps:
D15.2.3. Database capabilities. Database size, throughput, scalability, procedures for object creation, editing, and deletion, change notifications, registrar transfer procedures, grace period implementation, reporting capabilities, etc. The registry database software is Informix. The database has an available and dedicated hard disk space of 200Gb on a Symmetrix bay, driven by a SUN E10000.

Experience shows that once compressed, this database uses 1.3Gb for 1 million of recorded domain names. Current configuration will give us huge capability and scalability to host ".air" sub-domains and more if requested.
 

 D15.2.4. Zone file generation. Procedures for changes, editing by registrars, updates. Address frequency, security, process, interface, user authentication, logging, data back-up. While registered in the Registry database, new domain names are added to the DNS provisioning database thanks to dedicated processes.

Zone file generation is performed at distribution time, when the DNS servers are update.
 

 D15.2.5. Zone file distribution and publication. Locations of nameservers, procedures for and means of distributing zone files to them. Zone file distribution on DNS servers is currently performed daily on SITA DNS servers.

The QIP Enterprise software from Lucent Technology is used to generate DNS zone files and update the primary DNS servers on our Internet belt. Then, the primary server notifies its secondary that a new version of the DNS data has to be backed-up. Secondary DNS transfer the new data, and store them into local file.

Note that primary and secondary DNS servers do not process recursive DNS queries so that to keep a cache as clean as possible with accurate data loaded in memory from local files.
 

 D15.2.6. Billing and collection systems. Technical characteristics, system security, accessibility. The SRS system manages pre-payment depending on registrar’s needs.

Registrars have a dedicated account that they can credit freely, to accommodate with their registration rate.

Each registration request leads to decrement the registrar counter following the agreed registration fee. In case of cancellation, registration fees are credited to the registrars’ account.

Each transaction on registrars’ account is logged.

An online consultation of the account status is made available to the registrar.

On a monthly basis, the system generates statistics used by the accounting department.
 

 D15.2.7. Data escrow and backup. Frequency and procedures for backup of data. Describe hardware and systems used, data format, identity of escrow agents, procedures for retrieval of data/rebuild of database, etc. The SITA center in Montreal works with the company Plerce Leahy to safely store its data. The process is has follow:

When tapes have to be secured a fax is issued to Plerce Leahy for pick-up (they usually come the next day);

Tapes are picked up and stored in a safe, fireproof place;

SITA can call Plerce Leahy as often as needed and can store as many tapes as needed;

Plerce Leahy is located in Montreal, ensuring SITA to get back the necessary tapes very quickly in case of emergency. Of course, SITA stores its own back-up copies in safe and secured places, at the office.
 

 D15.2.8. Publicly accessible look up/Whois service. Address software and hardware, connection speed, search capabilities, coordination with other Whois systems, etc. Whois servers are commonly used to provide information about: Typical information are: These information are provided by Network Information Centers around the world, and allow checking domain name availability as well as identifying people to contact in case of issues regarding an Internet domain.

The whois server maintained in the scope of this project will provide all the above information for sub level domains registered under ".air".
 

 D15.2.9. System security. Technical and physical capabilities and procedures to prevent system hacks, break-ins, data tampering, and other disruptions to operations. Physical security. System security has to be given special consideration while dealing with Internet services.

System security aims at preserving:

 Possible sources of danger: Vulnerabilities are identified on three levels: SITA’s experience acquired on providing Internet services has lead to gain expertise, and develop specific solutions and operational procedures to implement security measures on the three levels:

System level:

 Network level: At upper protocols level: D15.2.10. Peak capacities. Technical capability for handling a larger-than-projected demand for registration or load. Effects on load on servers, databases, back-up systems, support systems, escrow systems, maintenance, personnel. Benchmarking tests on SUN E250 have shown the ability of these servers to answer more than 600 DNS queries per second while hosting 25 thousand domains; decreasing to 300 DNS queries per second with 1.5 millions domains.

As servers are trebled and due to DNS round-robin mechanism, the number of answered DNS queries can be trebled for the same number of managed domain names.

These figures allow assuming a capacity of more than 1200 UDP/TCP transactions for SUN E250, with the hardware configuration described sooner in this document. This will easily cover registration requests from registrars on the front-end server as well as whois requests on the Whois server.
 

 D15.2.11. System reliability. Define, analyze, and quantify quality of service. The registry architecture as described in the previous chapters contains elements that are all doubled. Critical servers have their stand-by equipment and the system board on the E10000 is doubled.

All workgroup servers are equipped with RAID 5 hot-swap UltraSCSII internal disks.

Power supplies are doubled.

Once installed and configured, systems are backed up on tapes.

Systems are tuned thanks to customized processes and software, with automatic installation process from cd-rom. Therefore reinstalling a system from scratch is reliable, quick and easy.

The StorageTek Tape Library 9740 provides high data storage capacity, strong reliability and performance.

On another hand, SUN servers have proven their reliability along the years (current DNS service in SITA has faced no down time for 5 years). SUN technical support has always answered SITA’s requests in a committed time.
 

 D15.2.12. System outage prevention. Procedures for problem detection, redundancy of all systems, back up power supply, facility security, technical security, availability of back up software, operating system, and hardware, system monitoring, technical maintenance staff, server locations. On the system and application monitoring side, SITA has developed an infrastructure of monitoring tools and utilities aimed at maximizing uptime and performance of client systems and applications while simplifying problem diagnosis and escalation.

Objectives of system and application monitoring:

 The following functional architecture for system and application monitoring has been applied to SITA Internet services:

Decentralized operational centers are taking care of alarm management. Escalation methods are three-folds: Pager, email, windows pop-up. Depending on the alarms, automatic corrective procedures can be applied or trouble-ticket can be opened to request remote team support or software/hardware provider support.

The following tools are in use:

 D15.2.13. System recovery procedures. Procedures for restoring the system to operation in the event of a system outage, both expected and unexpected. Identify redundant/diverse systems for providing service in the event of an outage and describe the process for recovery from various types of failures, the training of technical staff who will perform these tasks, the availability and backup of software and operating systems needed to restore the system to operation, the availability of the hardware needed to restore and run the system, backup electrical power systems, the projected time for restoring the system, the procedures for testing the process of restoring the system to operation in the event of an outage, the documentation kept on system outages and on potential system problems that could result in outages. Regarding the SUN E10000 server, system recovery is directly managed by SUN thanks to a Platinum support contract. This includes: 24x7 support, dedicated team, software and hardware support.

From a general point of view, SITA Disaster recovery procedure on DNS or workgroup servers, can be described as follow:

Before Disaster:

The whole idea is to have a fully automated Backup/Restore procedure. This automation is fully transparent to the end-user. Basically the procedure makes the following for the backup:

 Here are two ways to backup the machine: After Disaster:

The procedure has been made as automatic as possible, but a few things require human intervention, like failed disk replacement. Here are the necessary steps for the Recovery:

 D15.2.14. Technical and other support. Support for registrars and for Internet users and registrants. Describe technical help systems, personnel accessibility, web-based, telephone and other support, support services to be offered, time availability of support, and language-availability of support. In the scope of its Internet services SITA has provided its customers with an email address to help them reaching quickly operators able to answer their questions.

The DNS Operations Support Group is entitled to solve customer DNS issues. They can be reached at:

dns.osg@sita.int
  D15.3 Subcontractors. If you intend to subcontract any the following:

all of the registry operation function;

any portion of the registry function accounting for 10% or more of overall costs of the registry function; or

any portion of any of the following parts of the registry function accounting for 25% or more of overall costs of the part: database operation, zone file generation, zone file distribution and publication, billing and collection, data escrow and backup, and Whois service please

(a) identify the subcontractor;

(b) state the scope and terms of the subcontract; and

(c) attach a comprehensive technical proposal from the subcontractor that describes its technical plans and capabilities in a manner similar to that of the Technical Capabilities and Plan section of the Registry Operator's Proposal. In addition, subcontractor proposals should include full information on the subcontractor's technical, financial, and management capabilities and resources.

Not Applicable By signing this Registry Operator's Proposal, the undersigned certifies (a) that he or she has authority to do so on behalf of the registry operator and, on his or her own behalf and on behalf of the registry operator, (b) that all information contained in this proposal, and all documents attached to this proposal, is true and accurate to the best of his/her/its knowledge and information. The undersigned and the registry operator understand that any material misstatement or misrepresentation will reflect negatively on any application of which this proposal is a part and may cause cancellation of any delegation of a top-level domain based on such an application.

_______________________________

Signature

John O. Watson__________________

Name (please print)

Managing Director________________

Title

SITA INC BV ____________________

Name of Registry Operator

29th of September 2000____________

Date
 
 
































(c) 2000 The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

All rights reserved.

Updated August 15, 2000