Absa gets its domain

Johannesburg, 26 Jan 2001

Absa has secured the domain Absafreemail.co.za, following a week of uncertainty after Nizaam Karjieker registered the domain.

[VIDEO]It was reported in the Sunday Times that Absa intended to use Absafreemail as the domain for its free e-mail access. The bank now says its original intention was to use freemail.absa.co.za, but still wants to own Absafreemail.co.za to avoid confusion and secure its brand.

The name freemail.absa.co.za belongs to Absa by default, as it is a sub-domain of absa.co.za, which is already owned by the group.

Yesterday morning, Karjieker stated he had sold the rights of the name to an anonymous third-party, while Absa planned to send a letter of intent to Karjieker yesterday afternoon. By yesterday evening`s Absa press conference in Johannesburg, Tasso Tsoukalas, GM of channel marketing, Absa Group, announced that Absafreemail.co.za had been secured.

The free e-mail service is linked to Absa`s free Internet offering, which includes free Internet access, five Internet addresses, and 10MB of free Web space. The company also clarified some questions regarding the free Internet access, such as telephone dialup costs and ISDN access.

Apart from the first registration call (to a Johannesburg number), dialup will go through a local point of presence number, meaning that users pay the cost of a local call. ISDN connectivity will be available, also at no cost.

Only Microsoft Internet Explorer will work with the service, and it will only be available for PCs.