Yesterday ICANN, the internet governing body, agreed a major proposal to the way Top Level Domains work, which could see many new domain name extensions on the market in 2009.

Internet users are currently restricted to a limited number of domain extensions, for example the popular .com, .co.uk, .net and suchlike. ICANN’s proposal will mean the removal of this restriction, enabling registrars to apply for new extensions that are more appropriate to their customers.

However, applying for a new domain extension (TLD) will be very different from registering a new domain name, with each new top-level-domain costing a minimum of $100,000, strictly limited to companies and entrepreneurs.

In addition, the ICANN proposal will also mean that domain extensions could be supported in new languages, no longer restricted to the current 37 Roman Characters.

A final version of the proposal will need to be approved by the ICANN Board before the changes begin to take place - this is expected to be in early 2009. Applications for new domain extensions are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2009.

Fasthosts is very excited by the opportunity that this major change will present for our customers and of course, we will keep you informed of developments as they happen, through into 2009.

Find out more in ICANN’s FAQs

We are pleased to announce that www.fasthosts.co.uk is a Hitwise Top 10 Award winner for the quarter ending January - March 2008!

During this period, www.fasthosts.co.uk was one of the most popular websites in the United Kingdom in the Hitwise category of Computers and Internet - Hosting and Domain Registrations.

We would like to thank all those that visited our site – and hope that you found it useful and informative.  Should you have any comments or suggestions – please let us know, we always welcome feedback from our customers.

PCPro magazine are conducting their reliability and service survey to gain customer feedback.  It should only take a couple of minutes, and by taking part you will be automatically entered into their prize draw to win one of £3,500 worth of prizes, including a £799 laptop,  two £250 satnavs and a 22” widescreen monitor.  To provide valuable feedback, have you say on the Fasthosts services and for your chance to win visit http://www.demographix.com/surveys/TWHI-SO67/7R6Z87KY/?oa

BT have just announced that, for security reasons, they are now preventing BT Yahoo! Broadband users from sending emails from software such as Microsoft Outlook and Thunderbird, when the “From” email address is not a BT Yahoo! email address or a “validated alternative email address”. Last month, Sky stopped the use of their SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) servers to send emails.

Both of these changes have meant that many Sky and BT Yahoo! broadband users have been unable to send email until they change their SMTP settings, or in the case of BT Yahoo! customers, go through a process of validating their email address.

We’d like to take this opportunity to remind customers that Fasthosts provides a useful ”Roaming SMTP” feature with our Advanced and Microsoft Exchange mailboxes.

Fasthosts Roaming SMTP enables you to send email using your PC software, regardless of your broadband provider (so it’s great for laptop users!). If your broadband provider stops the use of their SMTP servers, you won’t be affected if you have a Fasthosts Advanced or Exchange mailbox using our SMTP settings.

Standard POP3 mailboxes can be upgraded to Advanced mailboxes easily (and instantly!) using Fasthosts’ award-winning control panel. New Advanced and Exchange mailboxes can added to any Fasthosts web hosting or email hosting package.

Find out more about the range of mailboxes we offer, and read our email software setup guides for more details on using our SMTP servers.

Experience the Fasthosts advantage
Some big-name email and web hosting providers don’t provide their own SMTP servers. Their customers have no choice but to use the SMTP servers provided by their broadband provider (which makes things a bit tricky for some BT and Sky broadband users now). Fasthosts provides a business-grade email hosting infrastructure with SMTP plus advanced virus & spam protection, from as little as £1.25pm!
Get up and running with Fasthosts email today

Microsoft have provided a complete Exchange sales training Webinar, currently available to Fasthosts resellers only, to compliment the existing Exchange sales toolkit. Providing essential information to help increase Exchange email sales, the Webinar comprises 8 downloadable videos, covering topics including opportunity drivers and targeting customers, plus overcoming common objections and competing with on-premises solutions.

Fasthosts resellers can now download the Webinar videos from the reseller portal.

You can now get Microsoft Office 2007 for your PC from only £4.99 per month, from Fasthosts, including popular software packages like Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Manageable monthly price - with no contract ties
Simply sign up for the service and download Microsoft Office 2007 directly to your PC for a manageable monthly price - no need to buy the boxed product, saving hundreds of pounds in up-front costs. There’s no minimum contract, giving you the freedom to use the software on a month-by-month basis without further obligation.
 

No need for CDs or the boxed product
Streamed directly to your PC, you have access to fully functioning software and any additional features or updates (including security updates) will be automatically installed - including the latest version of the software. So when Office 2009 is released, you can have that streamed to your PC at no extra cost!

Find out more about this great new service
Existing Fasthosts customers - add MS Office 2007 in your control panel today!

Buy any new Windows dedicated server and you’ll be eligible for £30 cashback! Plus, choose a Windows DS650 or DS850 dedicated server and you’ll also receive a copy of the powerful MS Money software free (While stocks last)!

Our range of powerful servers all feature Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processors as standard and prices start from just £49 for Linux based servers and only £59 for Windows based servers - making them incredible value for money.

If you are looking to increase the power of your current dedicated server or considering an additional server, now is an excellent time to look at our new range - and with £30 cashback on every new Windows server they just got even better value for money.

Each server is located at Fasthosts’ modern and secure data centre. You don’t need to worry about allocating floor space within your own environment and our dedicated team will continue to ensure your server is kept current with the latest updates to the operating system.

See the benefits for yourself at www.fasthosts.co.uk/dedicatedservers

Every month, visitors to the Web Host Directory industry portal, vote for the Top Web Hosts in each in number of categories. At the end of each month, the awards panel visit the top voted Web Hosts in each category, and determine who are most worthy of the awards.

Fasthosts won a raft of Web Host Directory awards in 2007, and we’d like your help to secure the top-spots again through 2008. So, if you’re happy with Fasthosts services, please vote for us by clicking the Web Hosting Directory badge below. Thank you!

Fasthosts.co.uk has just been awarded a Hitwise Top 10 spot for the quarter ending October - December 2007,  in the Computers and Internet, Hosting and Domain registration industry. The Hitwise Top 10 Award recognises leading websites from over 160 industry sectors.

We are pleased to announce that we now offer the 2.13 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor - which replaces the 1.86Ghz we previously offered. The DS450 Server offers great features, and at only £20pm more than the entry level DS250 it is also fantastic value for money.
Learn more about the DS450