Zimbabwe is to review its Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure uniformity of policies and procedures for subdomains, simplify registration and prop up uptake of .zw domains, the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe said on Thursday.

As part of the review process, the Zimbabwean telecom industry regulator has invited input and comments from interested stakeholders.

"Pursuant to the authority's mandate of administering numbering and naming resources for the country, the review (of DNS) is intended to address several weaknesses that have been identified to be inherent in the current framework," said Potraz in a public notice.

It added that the review is being undertaken to enable the new system to "create a framework which is future proof and allows the country to embrace the benefits offered by using the .zw namespace" as well as ensuring "sustainability" in the management of .zw domains.

This would be in addition to effectively simplifying registration of .zw domains, enhancing security of the .zw namespace and ensuring "there are uniform policies and procedures amongst the various subdomains" under the .zw namespace.

Local bloggers say the current DNS registration process is time consuming and this discourages people from using .zw Top Level Domain because of lack of automation.

"The fragmented manner in which the DNS has been implemented, presents a lot of security loopholes in the system thereby affecting DNS availability and reliability. Implementing security measures like Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) has become a challenge," said one blogger on the www.technomag.co.zw blog.