ICANN announced the released of the draft copy for new gTLD applicant guidebook to the public for comments for a period of 45 days.

You can download it here.

Along with ICANN’s draft copy of the new gTLD applicant guide, are the Memoranda Papers which ICANN created specifically for to go along with the guide book.

Also in ICANN’s update, ICANN also updated on what are the estimated applicant fees involved for the new gTLD progam and the summary of changes in the base gTLD agreement. It’s an estimated whooping USD185,000 for the first round of application.

In the Cost Considerations of the New gTLD Program paper, ICANN also highlighted :-

• The new gTLD implementation should be fully self-funding (costs should not exceed fees; existing ICANN activities regarding technical coordination ofnames, numbers and other identifiers should not cross-subsidize this newprogram).

• The new gTLD policy requires a detailed and thorough implementation process to achieve its goals; this process is inherently costly.
• Since this is a new program, it is difficult to predict costs or volumes with certainty. A detailed costing process has been employed, and costs are inline with historical precedent.

• If all cost-related estimates are accurate, there will be no net increase to ICANN’s funds as a result of evaluating new gTLD applications; fees will just equal costs. If there is an excess or shortfall (which will take some time to assess), the community will determine how funds should be handled.
• The primary ICANN fee will be the evaluation fee. It is currently estimated that this fee will be $185,000. Applicants may face other fees (paid directly toproviders) in case of technical issues or disputes. As with existing registries,newly delegated registries will also pay ICANN fees.

There still uncertainty looming around the cost for new gTLD applicant but this confirms an indication that it would certainly hover around USD200,000. Bear in mind, new gTLD applicant have to prepare extra funding if they were unfortunate enough to compete against others in auctions.