Current open .uk domains

.co.uk - commercial enterprises .org.uk - non - profit groups .plc.uk - registered company names .ltd.uk - registered company names .net.uk - net service providers .sch.uk - schools .ac.uk - academic establishments .gov.uk - government bodies .nhs.uk - health organisations .police.uk - police forces .mod.uk - Ministry of Defence

Anyone wanting a .me.uk domain will be able to apply from 14 January when registration officially opens. The names will be given out on a first come, first served basis.

If someone called John Smith successfully applied for one of the new names, he would get one of the form johnsmith.me.uk.

In an attempt to discourage speculators, the usual �5 registration fee has been increased to �50.

Anyone buying a .uk domain name will typically pay much more than this basic fee because registrars add-on all manner of services which include e-mail forwarding and filtering, website hosting and so on.

This will gradually be lowered over the coming months until July when it will reach the standard level of �5 per domain.

Like all domains .me.uk names have to be renewed every two years.

Many of the organisations that resell the .uk domains are members of Nominet and can use their voting rights to determine how the name space should develop.