ICANN accreditation offers reseller benefits

Web Drive has become the first New Zealand-based company to gain ICANN accreditation a move the company says will save many of its resellers 'tens of thousands' in fees each year. The ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) accreditation means Web Drive can offer direct registration of global top-level domains, such as .com, .org, .net, .biz, .mobi and the infamous .xxx. Web Drive provides wholesale domain name registration services to New Zealand-based domain name resellers through its white-label Domain Agent service, as well as a retail service. Robin Dickie, Web Drive's operations manager, says seeking ICANN accreditation was a lengthy and expensive process, but worth it because it allows the company to bring a new level of pricing, service and reliability to New Zealand domain resellers. He says the accreditation means local domain name registrars can deal with a fully accredited company in New Zealand, rather than using international providers or reselling from another upstream reseller who is purchasing from overseas ICANN accredited registrars. "That means access to local support, internationally competitive pricing and knowing exactly who they're dealing with. "If there is a problem, the buck stops with us and we're right there to fix it." Dickie says Web Drive is now able to get better pricing, which it can pass on to wholesale customers. "They can choose to pass the savings on to their customers or keep the extra margin. Either way, it's a considerable windfall for them.