There are now 25 registrations for new generic Top Level Domains one week into the three month application period ICANN has announced. However, this number does not necessarily represent the total number of applications since each registrant can apply for up to 50 new gTLDs.
More details will not be available for now as ICANN is not disclosing any further details until after the deadline to register in the TLD Application System, 29 March, is reached. If applicants are not registered in the system by that date, they will be unable to apply.
ICANN began accepting applications for new gTLDs as of one minute past midnight (UTC) on Thursday, 12 January and to date (19 January) the organisation says the application system is functioning without a hitch.
In early May, approximately two weeks after the new gTLD application window closes, ICANN will publish a list of the applications and who has applied for which domain name.
« I can state firmly that one week into the process, the application system for the new domain names is functioning just as it should, » said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and Chief Executive Officer. « This is a reflection of the careful planning, hard work and long hours our staff spent preparing for last week’s launch. »
Applications are being accepted not just for gTLDs in Latin characters, but also for the first time in non-Latin language scripts such as Arabic, Chinese and Cyrillic.
« I couldn’t be more pleased, » said Michael Salazar, Director of the New gTLD program. « ICANN spent six years working to ensure it got this program right and we worked particularly hard to make certain the application portion of the program went smoothly. »
Initial processing of the applications is expected to be completed in mid-November 2012 and the first new generic Top-Level Domains are expected to be online sometime in early 2013.
Source DomainNews.com