ICANN85 in Mumbai: Charting the Internet's Next Digital Frontier

MUMBAI, India – February 05, 2026 – The global internet community is turning its attention to Mumbai, as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) prepares to hold its 85th Public Meeting from March 7-12, 2026. Hosted by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), the forum is set to address the very architecture of the digital world, arriving at a critical juncture for online identity, multilingualism, and the governance model that underpins the global network.

With India's digital economy booming and its internet user base surpassing one billion, the choice of Mumbai is symbolic of a shifting center of gravity in the tech world. The ICANN85 Community Forum will not only be a venue for technical coordination but also a high-stakes arena for policy discussions that will shape the next evolution of the Domain Name System (DNS) and the very principle of a single, interoperable internet.

India Takes the Helm in Global Internet Governance

The selection of India as host, a decade after the last ICANN meeting in Hyderabad, highlights the nation's meteoric rise as a digital powerhouse. The event, supported by India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is a testament to the country's commitment to shaping global digital policy.

"India's digital transformation is anchored in an open, secure, inclusive and resilient Internet," said Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary of MeitY and Chairman of NIXI. "Hosting ICANN85 reflects India's commitment to the multistakeholder model of Internet governance and to advancing policy frameworks that support innovation, inclusion, and trust in the global Internet ecosystem."

The sentiment is echoed by ICANN leadership, who see the meeting as a vital opportunity for engagement. "The ICANN85 Community Forum in Mumbai offers the Indian Internet community an excellent opportunity to attend and participate in the global dialogue on important Internet governance issues," noted Samiran Gupta, ICANN's Vice President for Stakeholder Engagement in the Asia Pacific region.

NIXI, which manages the country's .IN and .भारत (.Bharat) domains, plays a crucial role in this ecosystem. Its position as host underscores a national strategy focused on not just consuming digital services, but actively participating in the governance and infrastructure that makes them possible.

The Next Frontier: A New Wave of Digital Addresses

At the heart of the discussions in Mumbai will be the imminent launch of the next round of the New generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program, scheduled to open for applications in April 2026. This program represents a rare opportunity for businesses, communities, and organizations to create their own custom domain extensions, moving beyond the familiar .com, .org, or .net.

The previous round in 2012 led to the creation of over 1,200 new gTLDs, including brand-specific addresses like .bmw and .microsoft, as well as generic terms like .app and .shop. However, that round was criticized for its high costs—an application fee of $185,000—and complexity, which created barriers to entry. The 2026 round aims to address these issues with a more refined process, though the application fee is expected to increase to approximately $227,000.

Key changes include a finalized Applicant Guidebook (AGB) published in late 2025, which clarifies the rules of engagement. A new Registry Service Provider (RSP) pre-evaluation system will allow applicants to partner with pre-vetted technical operators, simplifying one of the most challenging aspects of the application process. This move is expected to make it easier for brands to focus on the strategic value of a gTLD—enhancing digital trust, marketing, and online identity sovereignty—rather than the technical minutiae of running a registry.

Building a Truly Multilingual Internet

Beyond corporate branding, the New gTLD Program is a cornerstone of ICANN's mission to foster a more inclusive and multilingual internet. The upcoming round will expand support for Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), which allow domain names to be represented in local languages and scripts. The 2012 round introduced IDNs like .сайт (Russian for "site") and .شبكة (Arabic for "web"), and the next phase will build on this foundation.

ICANN will now accept applications for new gTLDs in 27 different scripts, governed by the carefully developed Root Zone Label Generation Rules (RZ-LGR) that ensure technical stability. This initiative is particularly relevant for the forum's host nation. In a country with 22 official languages and hundreds of dialects, enabling users to navigate the internet in their native script is fundamental to digital inclusion.

To further democratize access, ICANN has launched an Applicant Support Program (ASP). This initiative, which opened in November 2024, offers financial aid—reducing application fees by up to 85%—and mentorship to applicants from developing regions and those proposing community-focused or linguistic TLDs. This program aims to ensure the next expansion of the internet is not just a commercial enterprise but a culturally and linguistically diverse one.

Defending a Unified Web in a Fragmented World

Underlying the technical and commercial discussions at ICANN85 is a pressing geopolitical concern: the fragmentation of the internet. As different nations pursue divergent regulatory paths, the foundational principle of a single, global, and interoperable network is under strain. The forum in Mumbai will serve as a critical bulwark for the multistakeholder model of internet governance—the collaborative approach that brings together governments, the private sector, civil society, and technical experts to set policy.

This meeting is the first since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the WSIS+20 Outcomes Document in December 2025. This document was a powerful global reaffirmation of the multistakeholder model as essential for the internet's stability and openness. For ICANN and its global community, the UN's declaration provides a renewed mandate to continue its work coordinating the internet's unique identifiers.

The discussions in Mumbai will focus on translating this high-level reaffirmation into practice, strengthening knowledge transfer, and bringing new voices into the governance ecosystem. As stakeholders from across the globe prepare to convene, the outcomes of ICANN85 will be critical in steering the course for a secure and unified Internet for the next generation.