http://www.switch.ch/about/news.html?id=71

Update on the launch of IDNs at SWITCH (18.30)
01.03.2004

Since the registration system only accepts as many requests as it can process, a large number of customers are still receiving the message “Due to the large number of requests the system is currently busy, please try again later”. The high load right at the start meant that this message could not always be displayed.

The WHOIS service, where people can enquire about domain names that have already been allocated, has been switched off in order to enhance the performance of the registration system. This will only be switched on again in the course of Tuesday. SWITCH would ask you to be patient.

Statistics as per 18.00 on Monday:

6000 new domain names registered
112,000 checks on whether a domain name is still free or not
1500 telephone calls to the Customer Care Center