.sector
Is .sector a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .sector in its own right, as of 7 October 2026. Namecheap named .sector as a backup string for its .foundry application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Namecheap named .sector as a backup string for its .fab application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A generic business word with no natural owner; some registrations on price, but few projects would make .sector their main address.
industry-analysis publishers, sector-themed funds and consultancies, and gaming or sci-fi projects that use "sector" as a world-building term
No applications recorded for this TLD yet.
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .fab application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .foundry application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: an abstract, owner-less partition noun with no incumbent trade using it as an identity, so the registry is selling pure suffix versatility on the word's breadth rather than to any defined buyer.
Same bet of a generic business-aggregation noun that labels a slice of the economy and would be worn by firms and trade bodies describing their vertical, though 'industries' already has a corporate-naming convention behind it that 'sector' lacks.
Same bet: a plural economic-segment noun sold to finance, trade and B2B publishers who want the vertical itself as their identity, with value resting on the word's analytic generality rather than on any brand or community.
What a .sector domain is
.sector is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under Commerce. Nobody has applied for .sector in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .sector domain extension real yet?
.sector is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .sector domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .sector name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .sector was .zone, delegated on 14 January 2014.
Is .sector a real TLD?
Not yet. .sector is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .sector as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
“CEI2647T-T14166 · Castor Exploration, Inc. · replacement string of .fab · Deactivated DEI2680T-T58789 · Deneb Exploration, Inc. · replacement string of .foundry · Deactivated”ICANN
“DEI2680T-T53761 · Deneb Exploration, Inc. · primary”ICANN
- Band chosen: 10-29 (vanity/narrow). 'Sector' is a generic English noun used as a classifier (industry sector, public sector, map sector) rather than something a project is or sells, so it lacks a natural buyer group that would adopt it as a primary identity. By analogy (flagged as analogy), abstract-descriptor TLDs from the 2012 round such as .zone, .world, .group and .industries drew registrations but largely on price or as secondary/redirect names, with thin aftermarkets concentrated in a few dictionary-word second-levels; .sector is narrower than .zone or .world because it is a less common hook in brand names. Not in the 30-49 band because there is no visible volume driver (no promotional-pricing history or registrar channel on the record, no category where a serious project would default to it) and no evidence of sustained demand beyond opportunistic one-word registrations. Not in the 1-9 band because the word is real, pronounceable and has legitimate uses: sector-report publishers, sector-rotation funds and advisers, consultancies branded 'X Sector', and gaming or sci-fi communities, giving a small but non-zero long tail. Facts on the record: two Namecheap applications (Castor Exploration, Inc. and Deneb Exploration, Inc.), both deactivated, listed as replacement strings of .fab and .foundry, with 0 applicants in contention; stated neutrally, this suggests the string was held as a fallback rather than a primary choice, which informs adoption likelihood but not how the string would stand in market, which is assumed delegated. Main market uncertainty: whether a registrar with retail reach would price it as a low-cost dictionary extension and seed enough registrations to create any secondary-market liquidity over the next 5 years, or leave it as a dormant catalogue entry.