.bb is the

country code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all tw ...

(

ccTLD A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all tw ...

) in the

Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...

of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

for

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. It is administered by Telecommunications Unit which is part of the ''Ministry of Innovations, Science and Smart Technologies'' for the Barbados Government.

History

The .bb top-level domain has been maintained by several administrators since its creation, the first of which being the University of Puerto Rico. In 1996, the

Government of Barbados The Government of Barbados (GoB) is a Unitary state, unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, where the president of Barbados is the head of state and the prime minister of Barbados is the head of government. Structure The countr ...

sought the relegation of .bb to the

incumbent local exchange carrier An incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) is a local telephone company which held the regional monopoly on landline service before the market was opened to competitive local exchange carriers, or the corporate successor of such a firm, in the Un ...

, Cable & Wireless (BARTEL) Ltd. A 2001 Memorandum of Understanding was then later signed between the Government of Barbados and both Cable & Wireless (Bartel) Ltd. and its sister company Cable & Wireless (BET) Ltd., to continue the administration of the ".bb" domains until the government selected alternate directives. In November 2007, .bb was again relegated to the Telecoms Unit within the Government of Barbados.

Registration

The Government has indicated that the government's policy will be to maintain a semi-restricted domain. Legal issues regarding domains are to be handled by the

Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office The Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO) is a Barbadian governmental agency in charge of various aspects of industrial property right affairs including: patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. It is a division of the '' ...

(CAIPO) arm of the Government. The fee for Barbados' main

and all of the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and third-level domains is

BBD BBD may stand for: Finance *Banco Bradesco, by NYSE ticker symbol *Bombardier Inc., by Toronto Stock Exchange symbol * Barbadian dollar, by ISO 4217 code Music *Bell Biv DeVoe, an R&B group ** ''BBD'' (album), 2001 **" B.B.D. (I Thought It Was ...

$120 annually, significantly higher than most other domains. At present. the .bb namespace does not allow for commercial licenses to entities without some connection to Barbados. Any person desirous of registering a ".bb" domain is required to fill out Form TU052 and send it the Telecommunications Unit for review.

Second-level domains

Timeline

*1991-09 – University of Puerto Rico is delegated the .bb domain. *1996 – The .bb ccTLD becomes re-delegated from Univ. of Puerto Rico to Cable & Wireless. *2001-10-16 – The Government of Barbados and Cable & Wireless sign a MOU for the later to maintain interim-administration of the .bb ccTLD. *2007-11 – The Government of Barbados assumes total administration and control of the .bb ccTLD from C&W.

Notes

References

Barbados country profile

External links

The Ministry of Innovations, Science and Smart Technologies (MIST)
*
Whois search tool for registered .bb ccTLDs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bb Communications in Barbados Country code top-level domains Internet properties established in 1991 Internet in Barbados sv:Toppdomän#B