Fadi Chehade, ICANN CEO, Announces Target Date of April 23 for First New gTLD Delegation

On June 13 of last year ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit group that manages the global Internet's system of unique identifiers, revealed the long list of new gTLDs proposed in the over 1900 applications they received. Now, after months of evaluation, it looks like ICANN will finally be able "to recommend for delegation the first new gTLD as early as the 23rd of April," according to ICANN's CEO, Fadi Chehade. Check out our past post on the list of proposed new gTLDs and get more information on ICANN's complicated evaluation process.

Chehade was interviewed yesterday about the new gTLD program and whether it was on track for a mid-year approval for delegation. He was happy to announce that they had an official target date of April 23 for the first delegation of a new gTLD. In the last few weeks, he said, ICANN has made great progress in "aligning all the necessary pieces that would permit [them] to recommend a delegation." Although April 23 is still just a target, Chehade says if the 23rd cannot be met, there will only be "slippage" of days or weeks, but not months. Then once the first new gTLD is announced, it will be up to the applicant to move forward with their own plans to make the gTLD available to the public.

In the interview, Chehade also talked about ICANN's motivation behind the new gTLD program, which he says is that "the introduction of new gTLDs is good for the consumer, it's good for innovation, [and] it's good for competition." More gTLDs will mean more choices for consumers and more competition to catch the consumer's eye. He believes this will give individuals, small businesses, and even communities more opportunity and a better means to "express themselves, to sell their goods, and to innovate."

See the full interview with ICANN CEO Fadi Chahade below:



What do you think of the new gTLD program? Which new gTLDs do you want to see approved? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Post by Robyn Norgan