Patriotism, low cost and online growth of small and medium-size businesses in South Africa has led to increased take up of the .za domain in South Africa, outpacing .com and other generic Top Level Domains.According to a study by the .za Domain Authority (ZADNA), 80 percent of South Africans consider .co.za as their primary domain, while 76.3 percent consider their South African identity as a major factor while choosing the domain."What is more satisfying to us is that most of South Africans see it as very important that wherever they are online, and whatever trade they do, they must be known by their South African identity, hence the growth of co.za in particular," said Vika Mpisane, general manager at ZADNA.

South Africa is one of the most connected countries in Africa with fiber optic and satellite connectivity. Meanwhile, the growth of online services has led to the growth of .za.

Generally, South African businesses, particularly small and medium-size businesses, are appreciating the importance of having an online presence, which has boosted the growth, added Mpisane.

There has also been debate that cost has stunted the take up of national domains as more people are attracted by the generic domains, which sell at US$10 or less.

The study reveled that the cost of .za is a major contributing factor because majority of the people find it affordable. Respondents said that they were happy with prices less than 100 South African Rand.

"What makes us happy is that co.za domain names cost 50 Rand which means it is seen as very affordable; org.za domain is free for proven non-profit organisations, while for the unproven ones it costs a once-off fee of 200 Rand," Mpisane said.

Mpisane added that "public benefit" .za domains, such as school.za and nom.za, offer free registrations and that ZADNA is planning to make the prices even more affordable without compromising quality, security and resilience of the .ZA namespace.

The research was conducted mainly for ZADNA to understand South African customer needs, views and perceptions about .za and .ZADNA, the impact of other TLDs on .za space and to allow the authority to better plan for improvement on registration processes.

The authority is currently overseeing nine active .za domains: Ac.za, Co.za, Edu.za, Gov.za, Law.za, Mil.za, Nom.za, Org.za and School.za. The study showed that South Africans would like an expansion of the second level domains to more than nine.

Mpisane, who is also the president of Africa Top Level Domain Organization (AfTLD), underscored the need for research, saying that it would be important for other countries to conduct such surveys.

"The .ZA market survey has allowed to understand our market better; but it would be even more interesting to see more African registries carry out such surveys," Mpisane added.