Hosting in Kazakhstan or how to break Jackpot
From today in Kazakhstan the cost of domain names .kz and.kaz soared by more than 2 times. An interesting fact: the cost has risen due to requests from the managers of two hosting providers that control more than 80% of the domain market to the Kazakhstan Association of IT Companies, which is the administrator of the first-level domain .kz i.kaz. Yesterday afternoon, customers of one of the largest hosting providers in Kazakhstan, PS.kz, received notifications about price increases for registration services and the renewal of national domains from 01/15/2014. As arguments, the order of the “Association of IT Companies of Kazakhstan” dated January 13 , 2014 , which sets new prices from 01/15/2014, is proposed. Actually, this order appeared, thanks to the very same PS.kz.
For reference: the direct responsibility for maintaining the efficiency of national domains of Level 1 lies entirely on another organization, namely, the Kazakh Network Information Center .
The establishing part of the document provides information that the increase is due to eliminate the imbalance between the cost of annual maintenance of domain names in the Kazakhstani segment of the Internet, ensuring the further development of the Distributed Domain Name Registration System and the payback period of Registrars.
The basis of the order stated:
1) Letter from the KazNic Institution dated December 29, 2014, No. 141229/1 on 2 pages ;
2) Letter of the Registrar HOSTER.KZ dated December 29, 2014 No. 231 on 1 sheet ;
3) Letter from the Registrar PS.kz dated December 19, 2014 No. 70-1 on 1 sheet ;
4) Certificate of competition in the market for the provision of domain name support services from the KazNic institution from 24 December 12, 2014 on 2 pages ;
5) Comparative analysis of domain name support services by country on 1 sheet .
')
Interesting fact: both companies Hoster.KZ and PS.kz, which control more than 80% of the domain names market, practiced dumping policies regarding the cost of national domains. Which is understandable, because these are the largest hosting providers that sell high-margin services in the appendix to the domain in the form of hosting a website on a shared hosting or VPS / VDS. Very often, domain names were distributed free of charge when purchasing a hosting. At Hoster.kz, the number of free domains depended on the chosen hosting plan, and their number could reach 10.
It so happened that in almost any business, the sale of basic and related goods and services is carried out. To obtain a competitive advantage, there is a common method of reducing the price of one type of product or service, which will be compensated by selling other goods or services that will be on the buyer's check. This universal method is used by everyone: from food supermarkets, advertising “sausage or cheese” with a crossed out price, to large manufacturers of industrial equipment, which compensate for price reductions by setting up, launching and maintaining sold equipment. The world-famous McDonalds network does not hide the fact that the network does not earn anything on branded hamburgers, but it earns profits through the sale of french fries and drinks. Thanks to the dumping of domain prices, hosters attracted customers to host sites and everyone seemed to be happy.
But now the two leading market players have attended to the problem of low prices for domains, which allegedly affects the quality of services offered by registrars. Mr. P.M. Gusev, the director of KazNIC, cited cost statistics, where he stated that the dumping policies of the Registrars do not allow them to provide services with an adequate level of quality, as well as introduce innovations in the provision of domain name support services (implement DNSSEC).
Ironically, but in the statistics provided by the institution, both the main players Hoster.KZ and PS.KZ, insisting on losses from dumping, have the lowest prices for domain name registration / maintenance services than other registrars. What they happily report to their customers. Hoster.kz does it like this:
And PS.kz goes further, and regularly holds promotions, selling domains in general at 999 tenge and is aggressively advertised on thematic blog platforms of Kazakhstan:
Honestly, it is not entirely clear why the head of KazNIC was interested in the profits of registrars - ordinary resalers. What prevented registrars from independently raising the price of a service if it is critically unprofitable for them? Another thing is that due to difficulties in the economy and several devaluations in Kazakhstan, additional money was required directly to the Kazakh Network Information Center for expenses related to maintaining the efficiency of national first-level domains. But in this case it is necessary to discuss price increases for registrars, and not to limit the minimum retail price for consumers.
The second argument, which leads KazNIC to increase prices, is a comparative analysis of support for domain names of different countries.
What logic KazNIC was guided by, trying to argue for raising the minimum retail price for domains, offering an analysis of the cost of domain names in various countries strangely correlated with Kazakhstan's reality. But even in this “document” two serious mistakes were made:
1. Pay attention to the figures in the references, judging by the cost of the domain. Ru 600 rubles, officially recommended retail prices are used. It's no secret that domains can be purchased for 99 rubles from resellers. And they get a reseller at a price below 89 rubles.
2. The cost of Kazakhstan’s national second-level domains is declared as 1400 tenge, which is the minimum value offered in the market. The official recommended price is 3400 tenge.
Therefore, it was necessary either to list only recommended prices or only minimum prices on the market. In any case, the “analysis” would then look completely unattractive in relation to the previous prices on Kazakhstan's national domains. Additionally, I can report that due to the weakening of the ruble, the value expressed in dollars on 12/24/2014 is unreliable.
The director of Hoster.KZ, D.S. Sukhachev, sends a letter to the “Association of IT Enterprises of Kazakhstan” to consider the possibility of establishing the official cost of registering domains in the .kz zone, .Kaz not less than 3000 tenge excluding VAT for retail buyers and 2800 tenge for wholesale buyers, argue your position as follows:
The head of PS.kz, the second largest market player N.I., also echoes him. Krasulin:
So what is the reason for the real price increase, is it really banal to increase the appetite of the key players in the Kazakhstani Internet space? The presented documents and the lack of calculation methods (namely, “openness of information” is promoted by the “Kazakhstan Association of IT Companies”) not only justify the price increase, but raise additional questions. Maybe it is worth paying attention to the competent authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan and give a legal assessment of the actions of the "monopolists", and if it is confirmed to punish the guilty? What does the community think about these events? Is there a collusion?
For reference: the direct responsibility for maintaining the efficiency of national domains of Level 1 lies entirely on another organization, namely, the Kazakh Network Information Center .
The establishing part of the document provides information that the increase is due to eliminate the imbalance between the cost of annual maintenance of domain names in the Kazakhstani segment of the Internet, ensuring the further development of the Distributed Domain Name Registration System and the payback period of Registrars.
The basis of the order stated:
1) Letter from the KazNic Institution dated December 29, 2014, No. 141229/1 on 2 pages ;
2) Letter of the Registrar HOSTER.KZ dated December 29, 2014 No. 231 on 1 sheet ;
3) Letter from the Registrar PS.kz dated December 19, 2014 No. 70-1 on 1 sheet ;
4) Certificate of competition in the market for the provision of domain name support services from the KazNic institution from 24 December 12, 2014 on 2 pages ;
5) Comparative analysis of domain name support services by country on 1 sheet .
')
Interesting fact: both companies Hoster.KZ and PS.kz, which control more than 80% of the domain names market, practiced dumping policies regarding the cost of national domains. Which is understandable, because these are the largest hosting providers that sell high-margin services in the appendix to the domain in the form of hosting a website on a shared hosting or VPS / VDS. Very often, domain names were distributed free of charge when purchasing a hosting. At Hoster.kz, the number of free domains depended on the chosen hosting plan, and their number could reach 10.
It so happened that in almost any business, the sale of basic and related goods and services is carried out. To obtain a competitive advantage, there is a common method of reducing the price of one type of product or service, which will be compensated by selling other goods or services that will be on the buyer's check. This universal method is used by everyone: from food supermarkets, advertising “sausage or cheese” with a crossed out price, to large manufacturers of industrial equipment, which compensate for price reductions by setting up, launching and maintaining sold equipment. The world-famous McDonalds network does not hide the fact that the network does not earn anything on branded hamburgers, but it earns profits through the sale of french fries and drinks. Thanks to the dumping of domain prices, hosters attracted customers to host sites and everyone seemed to be happy.
But now the two leading market players have attended to the problem of low prices for domains, which allegedly affects the quality of services offered by registrars. Mr. P.M. Gusev, the director of KazNIC, cited cost statistics, where he stated that the dumping policies of the Registrars do not allow them to provide services with an adequate level of quality, as well as introduce innovations in the provision of domain name support services (implement DNSSEC).
Ironically, but in the statistics provided by the institution, both the main players Hoster.KZ and PS.KZ, insisting on losses from dumping, have the lowest prices for domain name registration / maintenance services than other registrars. What they happily report to their customers. Hoster.kz does it like this:
And PS.kz goes further, and regularly holds promotions, selling domains in general at 999 tenge and is aggressively advertised on thematic blog platforms of Kazakhstan:
Honestly, it is not entirely clear why the head of KazNIC was interested in the profits of registrars - ordinary resalers. What prevented registrars from independently raising the price of a service if it is critically unprofitable for them? Another thing is that due to difficulties in the economy and several devaluations in Kazakhstan, additional money was required directly to the Kazakh Network Information Center for expenses related to maintaining the efficiency of national first-level domains. But in this case it is necessary to discuss price increases for registrars, and not to limit the minimum retail price for consumers.
The second argument, which leads KazNIC to increase prices, is a comparative analysis of support for domain names of different countries.
What logic KazNIC was guided by, trying to argue for raising the minimum retail price for domains, offering an analysis of the cost of domain names in various countries strangely correlated with Kazakhstan's reality. But even in this “document” two serious mistakes were made:
1. Pay attention to the figures in the references, judging by the cost of the domain. Ru 600 rubles, officially recommended retail prices are used. It's no secret that domains can be purchased for 99 rubles from resellers. And they get a reseller at a price below 89 rubles.
2. The cost of Kazakhstan’s national second-level domains is declared as 1400 tenge, which is the minimum value offered in the market. The official recommended price is 3400 tenge.
Therefore, it was necessary either to list only recommended prices or only minimum prices on the market. In any case, the “analysis” would then look completely unattractive in relation to the previous prices on Kazakhstan's national domains. Additionally, I can report that due to the weakening of the ruble, the value expressed in dollars on 12/24/2014 is unreliable.
Arguments hosters
The director of Hoster.KZ, D.S. Sukhachev, sends a letter to the “Association of IT Enterprises of Kazakhstan” to consider the possibility of establishing the official cost of registering domains in the .kz zone, .Kaz not less than 3000 tenge excluding VAT for retail buyers and 2800 tenge for wholesale buyers, argue your position as follows:
“We want to maintain a high level of service - customer support over the phone, operational support for ticket system, development and improvement of software for customer convenience, support for a mobile application, and payment for the placement of main and backup equipment. Unfortunately, with current prices it becomes every day more and more difficult. ”
The head of PS.kz, the second largest market player N.I., also echoes him. Krasulin:
"Currently, the following situation has developed: customer support costs (taxes; technical support, sales, accounting, hardware and software development costs; paper, mailing documents, telephony) for the Domain Name Registration and Support service far exceed our income. ”
So what is the reason for the real price increase, is it really banal to increase the appetite of the key players in the Kazakhstani Internet space? The presented documents and the lack of calculation methods (namely, “openness of information” is promoted by the “Kazakhstan Association of IT Companies”) not only justify the price increase, but raise additional questions. Maybe it is worth paying attention to the competent authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan and give a legal assessment of the actions of the "monopolists", and if it is confirmed to punish the guilty? What does the community think about these events? Is there a collusion?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/248065/
All Articles