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Sixteen more orgs vie for cheap gTLDs, but…
Africa and Latin America are still under-represented in applications for ICANN’s new gTLD Applicant Support Program, according to the latest stats.
The program now has a whopping 76 organizations at some stage of the application process, which is 31 more than ICANN originally budgeted for. That’s up from 60 a month ago.
The program offers successful applicants a discount of 75% to 85% off the expected $227,000 application fee, among other perks such as access to pro bono service providers.
But the geographic breakdown shows that, as of the August 19 compilation date, only one more applicant hails from Africa and there’s only one more from Latin America and the Caribbean, compared to a month earlier.
Two influential ICANN advisory committees, including the governments, told ICANN earlier this month that they are “deeply concerned” that the ASP doesn’t seem to be reaching potential applicants in these two regions.
Hardly any applications have actually been submitted to be formally evaluated yet. There are 37 open applications that have yet to even submit the names of their organizations. Another 36 have done so, but not yet completed the application form.
I wonder if the top-line count may include a certain number of tire-kickers. The barriers to starting an application are pretty low, requiring just an account on the ICANN web site and a one-time password app on your phone.
Only three applications so far have been conditionally approved — one from Europe and two from Asia-Pacific — and three others from Asia-Pac have submitted their applications for review.
Of the 37 that have opened an application, the geographic region of 19 is still not known, so it’s possible the regional mix could change a lot as applications are actually submitted.
The program is open to charities and other non-profits, with participation from commercial entities limited to small businesses based in poorer regions.
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I could be mistaken, but the 75-85% discount applies to the application fee, not the RSP evaluation fee of ±92,000. If a non profit org in an underrepresented region wants to run a TLD, they either have to find an additional 92k or outsource the back-end.
There is a case an applicant could make if its own RSP only provides services to its ASP application. It’s not currently written out and will require going thru accountability mechanisms to ensure the right, but it sounds fair to me.