1 December 2014 12:00 (noon) MSK General Availability starts in the .MOSCOW and .МОСКВА TLDs. Domain name registration will be available to anyone at a standard price defined by registrars accredited for the extensions.

“The project for the .MOSCOW and .МОСКВА top-level domains' implementation has started more than four years ago and we’re now the key phase of it begins," says Dmitry Burkov, Board Chairman of FAITID, the registry for the extensions. “We’re sure that with clear meaning and competitive pricing Moscow strings will be popular among registrants who plan to have a website related to Russia’s capital.”

Earlier the .MOSCOW and .МОСКВА TLDs have passed Sunrise, Limited Registration and Landrush periods. Domain names were registered for major global (Gucci, Rolex, McDonalds etc.) and famous Russian brands. Lots of names equal to dictionary words (like books.moscow, sky.moscow) were registered at a premium price.

First examples of domains’ usage have already appeared – website for a major Russian IT conference – Russian Interactive Week – is available at Riw.moscow, while Metropolis, a popular Moscow trade center, uses its name Metropolis.moscow in advertising.

The .MOSCOW and .МОСКВА extensions will be used by Moscow Government – shortly it will get more than 2,5 thousand names reserved for the city needs. Starting from May 2014 a number of names like Mayor.moscow and Government.moscow direct users to official websites of the local government.