The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have been responsible for awarding new generic top level domains (gTLDs) since 2013. After years of development and extensive tests, central registries like BAKOM have gradually gained access to these modern domain endings, which promote competition and diversity in the internet’s address system. Besides .swiss, these new gTLDs include thematic endings such as .hotel and .restaurant, as well as geographical endings like .miami or .quebec.
In 2015, ICANN released .swiss, kicking off their new campaign. The introductory phase resulted in 6,628 domain names being distributed, primarily to public limited companies (PLC) and private limited companies (LTD). These companies took 58% and 15% of the domain names respectively. Since the official launch, domain registries have received over ten thousand further applications for the .swiss domain ending. The release of such a TLD takes places within 20 days, assuming there’s no competition from another application, or any other kind of restrictions to the desired internet address.