It is with great pleasure that we are announcing several operational improvements to the way that we provide additional global services, including: (1) additional global customer service capabilities, (2) new venues for arbitration in L-Root Hosting Agreements, and (3) options for payments in additional currencies.
Additional Customer Service Capabilities– Beginning June 1, 2015, we will roll out voice support in regional languages from our hub offices in Singapore and Istanbul in addition to Los Angeles. These services will be available 24 X 5, through multi-channel access (email, phone, and web portals).
New Venues for Arbitration in L-Root Hosting Agreements – The Hosting Agreements for ICANN's L-Root will be changed to include an opportunity for additional regional venues for arbitration. In addition to the current provisions for arbitration in California, USA for those in North America and Latin America, arbitration venues will also be available in:
- EMEA: Geneva, Switzerland
- APAC: Singapore
These options will provide greater flexibility and convenience to L-Root hosts located in each of ICANN's five geographic regions: Africa, North America, Latin America/Caribbean, Asia Pacific and Europe. The venue options represent internationally well-respected and well-established arbitration hubs.
Additional Currency Options for Payments -- ICANN will also allow contracted parties to issue payments to ICANN in the local currency equivalent of the US dollar invoice amounts. Registries or registrars will be able to choose the currency in which their payment is issued to ICANN, whether by credit card or by bank wire, through a selected payment vendor, reducing the barriers of doing business for our global contracted partners.
The initial phase is likely to include over 30 different currencies. More details will be available when ICANN finalizes the selection of the service provider over the next few weeks. We expect to implement this option beginning May 1, 2015.
These efforts are part of our ongoing Globalization Program to address the expectations of ICANN's stakeholders around the world. The Globalization Program is an integral component of ICANN's Five-Year Strategic Plan. Today's announcement is an example of how the organization is continuing to improve our operations and processes to benefit the global community.
For more information, please refer to these FAQs [PDF, 62 KB].
For enquiries on Customer Service, please contact michaela.quinzy@icann.org
For enquiries on arbitration venues, please contact amy.stathos@icann.org
For enquiries on payment options, please contact xavier.calvez@icann.org
