Dear Anne, Thank you for your message. I understand your concerns. We are in the final stages of the contracting process. I am hopeful that this can be completed in the next week, and that we can then quickly announce the provider and any fees as well as post the guidelines for public comment soon after. As I’m sure you understand, the contracting process can take time, but our teams are aware of the requirements/urgency to the community. As a reminder, the CPE fee would not be due upon application submission, but rather only after applicants have gone through String Evaluation and become eligible for contention procedures. Per Table 1-3 in the Applicant Guidebook<https://newgtldprogram-2026-agb.icann.org/en/5-module-1-the-applicant-journe...>, assuming 2,000 applications, this is estimated to start late Q2 2027. Additionally, an estimate for the CPE fee is provided in the AGB, along with several other evaluations in Table 3-2 of the Guidebook<https://newgtldprogram-2026-agb.icann.org/en/7-module-3-application-submissi...>. Thank you again, and hope to have more information soon. Best Jared From: Anne ICANN via SubPro-IRT <subpro-irt@icann.org> Reply-To: Anne ICANN <anneicanngnso@gmail.com> Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 12:58 To: Jared Erwin via SubPro-IRT <subpro-irt@icann.org> Subject: [SubPro-IRT] Community Priority Evaluation - costs and guidelines Hi Jared, As we approach the end of February with the opening of the next round scheduled for a mere two months away, it is quite concerning that no CPE Evaluator has been identified and no costs associated with CPE have been published. This makes it very difficult for applicants to plan and obtain funding. (BTW I don't represent any new gTLD applicants or any legal interests at this time as I am fully retired from the practice of law.) I understood you to say that ICANN hoped to publish this information shortly but at this point we are risking not being able to accomplish the goals of the policy work on CPE, especially because the costs are not known to potential applicants and the guidelines you referenced have not been published. Once again, when may we expect this work to move forward so that applicants are assured of predictability in relation to CPE? The fact that ICANN considered CPE so problematic in the 2012 round should not operate to prejudice the interests of 2026 round applicants and potential applicants. Thank you, Anne Anne Aikman-Scalese GNSO Councilor NomCom Non-Voting 2022-2026 anneicanngnso@gmail.com<mailto:anneicanngnso@gmail.com>