ICANN has finally announced the launch date for Phase 2 of the New gTLDs program. Although merely preliminary, this can be considered a significant accomplishment, especially in light of the fifteen-year wait for the second stage. Domain Incite reports that the ICANN Board expects to announce the start of the second phase of the program in May 2026.
This event will be preceded by a long and painstaking process of creating and approving the Guidelines for applicants for new domains. It is being developed by the Implementation Review Team, which includes dozens of volunteers from various ICANN committees and groups. The Guidance should include 98 recommendations already approved by the ICANN Board. Moreover, additions are possible: another 38 recommendations are currently under consideration by the Board.
The current plan is to break down the work on the Applicant Guidebook into thematic modules. Within each of them, the working group will consistently work on recommendations united by a specific topic. Each module is given from 3 to 7 months. The plan has already been criticized by many members of the domain community. They point out that 3 years is too long and the training could be significantly reduced if the members of the working group worked on several modules at the same time, rather than working on them sequentially.
