Analysts are confident that the price of .COM domains will increase.

VeriSign is currently trying toextendits contract with ICANN for registrations in the .NET domain zone. These actions entail an increase in the cost of all its current contracts. Therefore, an increase in the price of the .COM domain zone is also expected. Analysts note that the increase in the domain's cost couldexceed 10%.

At a recent press conference, VeriSign CEO Mark McLaughlin stated, "We are in the middle of a 30-day negotiation period between VeriSign and ICANN, as agreed upon by ICANN. We can expect the contract to be extended on July 1st. I expect the terms of the .NET and .COM contracts to be virtually identical."

VeriSign is believed to be attempting to revive the .COM agreement, similar to the terms of its last agreement, which included a 7% price increase. It may also include the option to increase the price annually, rather than every four or six years.