As reported here, the rules governing the registration of Portuguese domain names have been amended earlier this year.

One of the novelties was the possibility of registering domain names with a minimum of two characters (instead of three). However, the entry into force of this rule was postponed until 1 November. In the beginning of October, DNS.PT published the conditions applicable to the registration of domains with two characters (the English version is available here).

According to the same, not every domain with two characters will be subject to the same rules. First, there is a set of combinations whose registration is a priori forbidden, as is the case of the names coinciding with existing top-level domains.

Second, as especially appealing names might be at stake, DNS.PT decided to plan an auction, between 4-11 December, on the platform www.sedo.com for the following domains: or, xs, 99,11, 22, 55,88, ex, ok, hw, ko, pc, sw, 00, 01, 07, 09, 10, 20, 21, 30, 33, 3g, 40, 44, 4g, 50, 5g, 60, 66, 69, 70, 77, 80, 90, b2, b4, kk, oo, qi, t0, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, xx, ya, hj, pq, ou. A starting price for bidding of €499 is applicable.

Finally, as for the remaining available two-characters domains, their registration can be carried out as from 9am on the first working day after the expiry of the previous limitation (ie, the registration will be possible on 3 November). However, their registration will be more expensive than the traditional .pt Domains: the first year's fee will be €100. Still, this price increase only applies to the initial registration, with renewal conditions in force for domains with more than two characters being applicable.