This week’s Spotlight:
- Spotlight: ICANN’s New gTLD Program – Round Two
Upcoming domain launches
| Extension and Phases | Start Date | Order Deadline | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .PAY (gTLD) | ||||
| Sunrise*** | 13-Apr-2026 | 11-May-2026 | ||
Launch Notes
. PAY (gTLD): This new gTLD is dedicated to enabling secure online payment transactions. The Limited Registration Period (“LRP”) is solely for registrants that conduct payment transactions online using an approved Payment Service Provider or Third-Party Payment Processor.
Spotlight
ICANN’s New gTLD Program – Round Two
2026 will see ICANN accept applications for .BRAND TLDs once more, when it opens the second round of its New gTLD Program in April.
Owning a .BRAND TLD has multiple benefits, including:
- A secure online presence totally free from infringement concern
- The opportunity to build your own infrastructure in a secure environment
- Complete control of your domain space
- Unlimited availability with what’s left of the dot – never fight or bid for generic words, product names, taglines, or other monikers in domain registrations
Find out more about .BRAND ownership, and how CSC can be your trusted .BRAND partner.
GlobalBlock
GlobalBlock, a blocking product offered by the Brand Safety Alliance, a GoDaddy Company, announced that additional TLDs are now covered by the product. The provider also announced the addition of a new extension category of Specialized Extensions, now including .DE, .CN and .CN subdomains. This brings a total of extensions covered by the product to 780. For more information, please reach out to your Client Service Partner.
.OM Policy Change
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman – the .OM registry – has announced a policy change that will open the door for foreign companies to register .om, .com.om, and .co.om domain names without submitting a trademark registration. Under the new TRA policy, it is no longer required for your .om, .com.om, and .co.om domain names to match your company name, as long as it does not conflict with any registered trademark in Oman. Please contact your Customer Service Team if you would like to learn more and take advantage of this opportunity.
.CO Premium Name Release
The .CO registry will be updating their premium pricing structure on April 15th, 2026. As part of this update, the registry will also be releasing all 1-4 character .CO, .COM.CO, .NET.CO, and .NOM.CO names, along with several generic terms from its reserved list, totaling more than 4 million domains. These newly available domains will be added to the registry’s premium list. Please contact your Customer Service Team if you would like to review names being released for registration.
Premium Domain Name Changes at Radix
Radix Technologies Inc. will be updating their premium pricing tiers for some .FUN, .STORE, .SPACE, .TECH, .ONLINE, and .SITE domains on April 15th, 2026. As part of this update, the registry will also be releasing more than 40,000 names from its reserved lists. Please contact your Customer Service Team if you would like to review names being released for registration.
Additional Extensions offered:
.MOBI.KE and.ME.KE
Both extensions are unrestricted. The registration requirements are the same as those for .ke domains.
.SD and.COM.SD.
Both extensions are unrestricted with no local presence required.
To explore or secure any of these domains, please reach out to your Client Service Partner or fill out our contact us form.
Glossary
- ***: This phase of domain registration is first-come-first-served, where the first person or entity to register an available domain name becomes the rightful owner.
- Phases
- General Availability: Domain registration is available to public.
- Sunrise: Domain registration is restricted to trademark holders before public access.
- Landrush/ Early Access/ Limited Registration: Periods typically between Sunrise and General Availability phases that allow pre-registrations at a premium.
