.ac domain information

The .ac is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Ascension Island (UK), but it is commonly used by academic institutions now due to its resemblance to the abbreviation of "academy."

Introduction

The .ac domain was launched on December 19, 1997, as the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Ascension Island (UK), and is managed by the Ascension Island Network Information Centre (NIC.AC).

Because .ac is similar to the abbreviation of the English word "academy," it is commonly used by academic institutions.

Also, since .ac is the same as the car registration code for Aachen, Germany, it is often promoted by domain brokers as a domain for Aachen.

The domain is currently open for registration to all regions, but the registration cost is higher than that of typical top-level domains.

Target market

Originally for Ascension Island (UK) entities, now used globally by educational and academic groups

Restrictions

None

Intended use

Serving entities in Ascension Island (UK).

Registration rules

Second-level domain registration rules:
1. Applicants can reside in any legal jurisdiction.
2. Domain names must be between 1 and 63 characters when registered, using only letters (a-z, case-insensitive), numbers (0-9), and the hyphen "-", with no spaces or special characters (like !, $, &, ?), and "-" cannot be at the beginning or end.

Third-level domain registration rules:
1. Applicants must reside on Ascension Island.
2. Two-character names within the third-level domain (LD) are allowed. For example: 3x.com.AC
3. All second-level domain names used by the registry are prohibited as third-level domains. For example: com.com.AC is forbidden because it's a second-level domain.
4. All top-level domain names are prohibited as third-level domains. For example: net.org.AC and org.com.AC are not allowed.
5. All single-letter domain names (i.e., [a-z].xxx.AC) will be reserved and unavailable for registration.

Renewal policy

The renewal grace period and redemption grace period for .ac domain names are both 30 days. The domain needs to be renewed before it expires, and the specific renewal policies and conditions depend on the registrar.

Transfer policy

It can be transferred to other registrants, but must follow the registrar's transfer process and related fees.

Dispute resolution policy

Dispute Resolution Policy - https://nic.ac/dispute_policy.htm
.ac Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Rules - https://nic.ac/rules_for_dispute_policy.htm

Typical users

1. Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton - www.ias.ac
2. University of Kurdistan Hewler - www.ukh.ac
3. Royal Global University in Guwahati, Assam, India - www.rgu.ac

Registrar prices

Related TLDs