ICANN Extends Deadline for Geographic Names and Reserved Names Panels RFP for 2026 New gTLD Program
31-Mar-2026
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Source : The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
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Visits : 675
LOS ANGELES - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has extended the deadline to respond to its request for proposal (RFP) for a single, qualified provider to conduct both, the Geographic Names Panel review and the Reserved Names Panel review for the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: 2026 Round. The new deadline is Friday April 10, 2026, 23:59 UT, according to the official website of ICANN.
Applying criteria set out in the Applicant Guidebook, the Geographic Names Panel evaluates whether an applied-for gTLD string qualifies as an eligible geographic name, while the Reserved Names Panel determines whether an applied-for gTLD string represents a reserved name. Both panels must verify the relevance and authenticity of supporting documentation that applicants for gTLD strings in either category must submit.
Interested providers are invited to submit proposals that ICANN will evaluate for capability and expertise. Because the work related to both panels is similar, ICANN intends to consolidate the work with a single provider.
This is a public RFP, which means that any prospective vendor may participate.
Indications of interest should be emailed to 2026-rnd-geo_rsvd.nms.pnl-rfp@icann.org and include the following information:
• Name of the organization.
• Contact name.
• Contact email address.
Official responses to the RFP should be electronically submitted using ICANN's sourcing tool by 23:59 UTC on April 10, 2026. Access to this tool may be requested via the same email address.