ICANN is preparing a fund for the New gTLD program.

During his press conference, ICANN President Rod Backstrom announced that the organization plans to create a fund to support applicants.

This fund will provide financial assistance if applicants for new domains require it.

Sponsorship will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The total fund size will be $2 million.

Rod Backstrom said the organization has not yet made a final decision on how to prioritize identical applications for new domains.

If there are two or more applicants for a single top-level domain, the application supported by a community will be given preference.

As a reminder, applications for domains under the New gTLD program will be submitted in early January 2012.