I'm happy to report that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has set the expected evaluation fee for the next round of new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applications. The expected fee will be USD $227,000.
The cost was determined following program-related decisions made during the recent ICANN Board of Directors workshop, held 6–8 September in Los Angeles. These included the adoption of the pending recommendation from the Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process Phase 1 and adoption of advice from the Security and Stability Advisory Committee in relation to Name Collision Analysis. More information is available in the workshop recap blog. While the fee will not be approved formally until the Board approves the Applicant Guidebook for the next round, the expected cost is a critical piece of information for potential applicants when considering whether to submit a new gTLD application.
The gTLD evaluation fee does not include fees for conditional evaluations, which will be charged separately. Conditional evaluations are elective assessments that an applicant may choose, such as a Community Priority Evaluation or those that want to qualify for .Brand TLD status, to obtain special status or treatment.
How the gTLD Evaluation Fee is Established
The recommendations of the Final Report of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) Policy Development Process dictate that the fee should be "set to recover costs" associated with the New gTLD Program. They further stipulate the fee be set "to ensure that the program is fully funded and revenue-neutral and not subsidized by existing contributions from ICANN funding sources, including gTLD registries and registrars, ccTLD contributions, and RIR contributions."
This means that cost recovery for the New gTLD Program: Next Round will only occur once the fees collected equal the cost of the Program. Therefore, to determine the fee, the cost of the entire program was taken into account, including the elements associated with receiving and processing applications, gTLD delegation, communications campaigns, onboarding of evaluation panels and vendors, payment of software licenses, contract execution, and pre-delegation checks. The fee also includes contingency and risk costs for unforeseen and unplanned expenses that occur due to unknown factors or hard-to-predict costs. This could include legal fees and litigation, and variations in vendor pricing estimates. Read our Frequently Asked Questions for more information on how the gTLD evaluation fee was determined and potential management of excess funds.
Assistance Available for Eligible Applicants
Applying for a gTLD is a considerable investment and responsibility, and beyond the reach of some organizations. To make the New gTLD Program as accessible to as many eligible entities as possible, ICANN is providing financial and non-financial assistance to qualified applicants through the Applicant Support Program, or ASP.
The ASP is intended to make the New gTLD Program more attainable to entities that want to apply for a gTLD, but are unable to because of financial constraints and lack of other resources. The ASP provides a range of financial and nonfinancial assistance for qualified applicants including access to volunteer professional services, training, and other resources, and reductions in gTLD evaluation fees.
If you would like to learn more about the new gTLD evaluation fees and other costs related to applying for a new gTLD in the next round and the assistance available to applicants, please visit our website or send an email to [email protected].
