<s>
.co	B-Application
is	O
the	O
Internet	B-Application
country	I-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
(	O
ccTLD	B-Application
)	O
assigned	O
to	O
Colombia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
administered	O
by	O
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
S.A.S.	O
,	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
Neustar	B-Protocol
since	O
2014	O
.	O
,	O
there	O
were	O
no	O
registration	O
restrictions	O
on	O
second-level	O
.co	B-Application
domains	O
;	O
any	O
individual	O
or	O
entity	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
can	O
register	O
a	O
.co	B-Application
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
S.A.S	O
from	O
Bogotá	O
,	O
Colombia	O
,	O
was	O
appointed	O
as	O
the	O
manager	O
for	O
the	O
.co	B-Application
TLD	O
through	O
a	O
public	O
procurement	O
process	O
that	O
took	O
place	O
in	O
early	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
received	O
the	O
re-delegation	O
approval	O
as	O
the	O
manager	O
of	O
the	O
.co	B-Application
TLD	O
by	O
ICANN	B-Application
on	O
December	O
9	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
and	O
received	O
formal	O
confirmation	O
of	O
the	O
request	O
by	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Department	O
of	O
Commerce	O
on	O
December	O
23	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
they	O
took	O
over	O
administration	O
of	O
the	O
.CO	B-Application
domain	O
,	O
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
S.A.S.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
celebrate	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
second-level	O
domains	O
,	O
the	O
registry	O
auctioned	O
the	O
first	O
single	O
letter	O
.CO	B-Application
domain	O
name	O
"	O
e.CO	O
"	O
during	O
Internet	O
Week	O
on	O
June	O
10	O
,	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
e.co,	O
the	O
other	O
single	O
letter	O
.CO	B-Application
domain	O
names	O
that	O
have	O
been	O
allocated	O
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
more	O
than	O
1	O
million	O
.CO	B-Application
domains	O
had	O
been	O
registered	O
by	O
people	O
in	O
over	O
200	O
countries	O
and	O
territories	O
worldwide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
January	O
2014	O
,	O
that	O
number	O
has	O
grown	O
to	O
over	O
1.6	O
million	O
.CO	B-Application
domains	O
registered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
respect	O
to	O
search	O
engine	O
optimization	O
,	O
Google	O
confirmed	O
that	O
"	O
it	O
will	O
rank	O
.co	B-Application
domains	O
appropriately	O
if	O
the	O
content	O
is	O
globally	O
targeted	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.CO	B-Application
domains	O
became	O
available	O
via	O
the	O
following	O
timeline	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
July	O
20	O
,	O
2010	O
:	O
.co	B-Application
domains	O
became	O
generally	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Different	O
from	O
registrations	O
directly	O
under	O
.co	B-Application
,	O
which	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
signal	O
globally	O
relevant	O
interests	O
,	O
third-level	O
domains	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
signal	O
locally	O
relevant	O
business	O
,	O
organizations	O
,	O
academic	O
institutions	O
,	O
and	O
government	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IANA	O
delegates	O
ISO	B-Language
3166-1	I-Language
alpha-2	I-Language
codes	O
as	O
country	B-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	I-Application
domains	I-Application
,	O
and	O
on	O
December	O
24	O
,	O
1991	O
,	O
the	O
.co	B-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
was	O
assigned	O
to	O
Colombia	O
and	O
delegated	O
to	O
the	O
Universidad	O
de	O
los	O
Andes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
turn	O
the	O
university	O
wrote	O
to	O
ICANN	B-Application
,	O
rejecting	O
the	O
government	O
's	O
objections	O
and	O
stating	O
their	O
intention	O
to	O
appoint	O
a	O
subcontractor	O
to	O
handle	O
the	O
commercialisation	O
of	O
the	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
Council	O
of	O
State	O
meeting	O
,	O
the	O
university	O
wrote	O
to	O
ICANN	B-Application
on	O
12	O
February	O
2002	O
stating	O
that	O
it	O
had	O
abandoned	O
plans	O
to	O
commercialise	O
the	O
domain	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
as	O
it	O
could	O
"	O
no	O
longer	O
bear	O
the	O
administrative	O
and	O
operational	O
responsibilities	O
"	O
it	O
wished	O
to	O
discontinue	O
its	O
responsibility	O
for	O
operating	O
the	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
enactment	O
of	O
Law	O
1065	O
of	O
2006	O
,	O
the	O
Ministry	O
of	O
Communications	O
of	O
Colombia	O
initiated	O
a	O
public	O
consultation	O
process	O
involving	O
local	O
and	O
international	O
participants	O
,	O
including	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
community	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
objective	O
of	O
defining	O
the	O
future	O
of	O
the	O
.CO	B-Application
TLD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
that	O
process	O
,	O
through	O
Resolution	O
001652	O
of	O
2008	O
,	O
the	O
Ministry	O
approved	O
new	O
policies	O
that	O
would	O
govern	O
the	O
administration	O
of	O
the	O
.CO	B-Application
TLD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
public	O
procurement	O
process	O
began	O
which	O
resulted	O
in	O
the	O
award	O
of	O
the	O
administration	O
contract	O
to	O
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
SAS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
on	O
February	O
7	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
the	O
administration	O
of	O
the	O
TLD	O
was	O
transitioned	O
from	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Andes	O
to	O
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
SAS	O
,	O
under	O
the	O
regulatory	O
and	O
policy	O
supervision	O
of	O
the	O
Ministry	O
of	O
Communications	O
of	O
Colombia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
20	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
second	O
level	O
.co	B-Application
domains	O
became	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
rest	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
on	O
a	O
first-come	O
,	O
first-served	O
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
S.A.S	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
Neustar	B-Protocol
for	O
US$109	O
Million	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
a	O
wholly	O
owned	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
Neustar	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
responsible	O
for	O
the	O
promotion	O
,	O
administration	O
,	O
and	O
technical	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
.co	B-Application
TLD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
accredited	O
registrars	O
are	O
able	O
to	O
sell	O
.co	B-Application
domain	O
names	O
directly	O
;	O
other	O
registrars	O
selling	O
.co	B-Application
domain	O
names	O
are	O
acting	O
as	O
resellers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
list	O
of	O
accredited	O
registrars	O
is	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
.CO	B-Application
Internet	O
website	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
of	O
October	O
2011	O
there	O
are	O
20	O
accredited	O
registrars	O
.	O
</s>
