The number of companies and organizations serving as technical operators of domain zones could more than double in the next phase of the new gTLD program. This was announced by ICANN Vice President Russ Weinstein, speaking at a meeting of the corporation's board in Paris last week. Currently, the number of domain zone technical operators is approximately 40. However, in anticipation of the next phase of the new generic top-level domain program, ICANN is preparing a Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program for technical operators and expects that there will be no shortage of applications for participation in it. The number of technical operators can presumably grow to 100.
ICANN Board Member Edmon Chung supported Russ Weinstein's speech. He also noted that he does not expect the emergence of completely new startups, which, as soon as they emerge, will immediately claim the role of technical operators of domain zones. However, Chung expressed confidence that some of the country code registries would be willing to play this role. This point of view is shared by the Domain Incite. In reporting this news, he notes that the registries Nominet (UK), Nic.at (Austria) and AFNIC (France) have already taken this path. They willingly act as technical operators for clients located in the same time zones and managing domain zones in which the main language is the same as in the national domains of the named countries. And there is no doubt that in the future, country code registries will try to further strengthen their influence in the gTLD market.
