.网络
Is .网络 a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.网络 is already a TLD, in the DNS root today. In the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) applied to add .網絡, another written form of .网络 (ICANN calls it an IDN variant label).
A fully Chinese "network" address that works for Chinese-language organisations, but most still pick .cn or .com for their main identity.
chinese-language organisations, network and internet-service providers, and brand owners wanting a native-script address or a defensive registration alongside their .cn/.com
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a plain generic Chinese-script word for the web itself, sold as an open catch-all namespace to any Chinese-speaking registrant, where the whole wager is that a native-script generic beats a transliterated .com.
Same bet again: an unowned generic 网-family internet noun with no community or brand behind it, needing mass open registration from the same Chinese-language pool to pay off.
Same kind of bet - a generic Chinese internet descriptor offered as an open namespace to the same buyers - but it reads as a state/modifier rather than naming the network as a thing, so it is slightly narrower as a primary identity.
What a .网络 domain is
.网络 is already a live TLD. It is on our record because its registry operator applied in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round to add the variant spelling .網絡.
Is the .网络 domain extension real yet?
.网络 is already a domain extension: it is in the DNS root today. The ICANN 2026 new gTLD round application recorded on this page does not create it. It asks to add the variant spelling .網絡.
When can you buy a .网络 domain?
.网络 is already live. Whether you can register a name in it is up to its registry: some live TLDs are open to anyone, others are one company’s private space. What is not settled is whether .網絡 gets added. It is not in the DNS root yet.
Is .网络 a real TLD?
Yes. .网络 is already in the DNS root, so names in it resolve. The application on ICANN’s Reveal Day list is to add the variant spelling .網絡, not to create .网络.
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. The string is the generic Chinese word for network/internet, backed by an applicant that operates national-level Chinese registry infrastructure (CNNIC, per the verified-facts block, which also records a traditional-script variant application, .網絡), so the address is plausible and institutionally durable for Chinese-language organisations. It is not in the 50-69 band because, by analogy with Chinese-script generic IDN TLDs in market (flagged as analogy), genuine primary-identity use is uncommon: Chinese users reach sites through apps, search, QR codes and ASCII addresses, mobile keyboards favour pinyin/ASCII entry, and most organisations keep .cn or .com as the canonical address while treating a native-script name as a defensive or supplementary registration, which leaves the aftermarket thin. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word is a serious generic rather than a vanity string, demand is institutional and ongoing rather than event-driven, and a full-Chinese address has real utility for domestic-facing bodies and network-service firms. Figures on current registrations, renewal rates and resale prices are unknown here. Main market uncertainty over the next 5 years: whether universal acceptance and Chinese mobile input habits move far enough that native-script addresses become everyday primary identities rather than secondary ones.