After years of handling the .CO domain, GoDaddy has lost its role as the official registry. A new partnership, called Consórcio Equipo PuntoCo, made up of Germany’s Team Internet and Colombia’s Central Comercializadora de Internet (CCI), has won the contract to operate Colombia’s country-code top-level domain (ccTLD), .CO, for the next ten years.
The Colombian government, through the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MINTIC), ran a public bidding process to select the new operator. Four companies competed, including GoDaddy’s competitors Identity Digital, Registry Services, Radix TRS, and the winning team of Team Internet + CCI.
The .CO domain, while technically Colombia’s national TLD, has become popular worldwide as a short and catchy alternative to .COM. Startups, tech companies, and entrepreneurs have been using .CO as a brand-friendly option. Domains under .CO can be registered by anyone, not just Colombians.
GoDaddy Registry had been the technical backend and main sponsor of the .CO domain. During its time, the domain grew to over 3 million active registrations. But the tide has now turned.
Why Team Internet?
Team Internet is already known in the domain world – they run Slovakia’s .SK domain and other regional TLDs. Together with CCI, they formed Equipo PuntoCo. Their offer promised only 8% revenue retention, meaning 92% goes back to Colombia. Despite competitors offering slightly more favorable revenue splits (Identity Digital offered 9.95%), Equipo PuntoCo scored highest in the overall evaluation, which included social impact, sustainability, and inclusivity.
According to Colombian press, this decision also came after internal disputes and scrutiny. Some firms accused others of lacking required experience or submitting misleading documents. In the end, only Radix was disqualified. Equipo PuntoCo passed all checks.
The Colombian government sees the .CO domain not just as a digital asset, but a source of real revenue – over 500 billion pesos (more than $125 million USD) were brought in over the last five years. The new deal could mean continued funding for digital infrastructure and education in Colombia.
What’s next?
For Team Internet, this is a big win. The .CO domain joins their portfolio and might boost their standing in future tenders. They’re now preparing for full operations, expected to begin impacting financials in 2025. From that point, they’ll collect a recurring 8% of all registration and renewal revenue.
Meanwhile, GoDaddy steps away from a globally visible domain it helped grow.
This transition is not just about one country’s domain – it reflects the competitive, sometimes controversial, world of internet infrastructure, where technical skill, business politics, and national interests all collide.