March 29 2017 - AFRINIC is pleased to announce that the AFRINIC-26 fellowship selection process is now complete and the following applicants have been selected to receive a fellowship to attend AFRINIC-26, being held alongside the Africa Internet Summit (AIS'17), from 27 May - 2 June 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya. Congratulations to all the fellows and we look forward to collaborating with you on Internet development initiatives in the African region.

Find out more about the AFRINIC Fellowship Program.

March 30 2017 - As of 27 March 2017, AFRINIC's pool of available IPv4 address space contained the equivalent of 1.03 /8s and we expect to reach the last /8 of available IPv4 space by the end of March or the first days of April 2017.

This means that AFRINIC's IPv4 address space inventory will very soon reach the previously agreed level where the "Current Phase" will end, and "Exhaustion Phase 1" of the AFPUB-2010-v4-005: IPv4 Soft Landing Policy will be triggered. This community-developed policy can be found here.

As of today, AFRINIC is still managing Internet number resources as per the requirements outlined in existing policies (the "Current Phase") but this will change imminently. You can view all current policies here.

AFRINIC's available inventory of IPv4 space is updated daily here.

GUIDANCE FOR MEMBERS

All AFRINIC Resource Members are kindly requested to familiarise themselves with AFPUB-2010-v4-005: IPv4 Soft Landing Policy, available here

In addition to the policy itself, please refer to the communique dated 16 January 2017, announcing AFRINIC's approach to IPv4 Exhaustion.

To ensure timely evaluation of all Internet number resource requests, Members are requested to ensure that: 

• They are in good standing (all fees are paid up, and RSA duly signed)

• Submit complete IPv4 resource requests, including all information needed to verify policy compliance.

• Make arrangements for AFRINIC staff to check online statistics via screen sharing or similar methods, at a time between 06:00UTC and 11:30am UTC, Monday to Friday (between 10:00 and 15:30 Mauritius time (UTC+4)).

CURRENT ALLOCATION or ASSIGNMENT PROCESS

As of today, AFRINIC is still managing Internet number resources under existing policies, which can be found here.

The current process involves AFRINIC's hostmasters evaluating resource requests received, and deciding on the prefix that can be approved for each particular resource member based on the information provided. Members are subsequently invoiced an allocation/assignment fee based on prefix size approved. There is no limit (based on justified need) to the size of prefix that can be approved. Resources are marked as RESERVED when a request is approved, and are subsequently issued to the requesting Member when AFRINIC receives the payment of the allocation/assignment fees.

CRITERIA FOR THE START OF EXHAUSTION PHASE 1

Exhaustion Phase 1 is triggered as soon as a request cannot be fulfilled, or can be fulfilled but leaves the available IPv4 inventory - excluding the final /8 - empty.

As described in the previous communique dated 16 January 2017, if a request for IPv4 resources is approved but cannot be fulfilled using a single contiguous block from the available inventory (excluding the final /8), the applicant will be given the option of receiving the resources as multiple smaller blocks instead (if there is a sufficient amount of smaller blocks to make that possible). If the applicant is willing to receive multiple smaller blocks adding up to the same amount of space as was approved, then the request is treated as "fulfilled". If the applicant does not want multiple smaller blocks, or if there are not enough smaller blocks to fulfil the approved request, then the request cannot be fulfilled.

The communique can be found here

CHANGES TO POLICIES IN EXHAUSTION PHASE 1

When Exhaustion Phase 1 begins, most current IPv4 policies continue to apply, but certain changes take effect.

• The minimum IPv4 allocation for LIRs will be /22, and the minimum IPv4 assignment for End User Members will be /24. (section 5.4.3.1).

• The maximum IPv4 allocation/assignment shall be /13 (section 5.4.3.1).

• No explicit limit on the number of times an organisation may request additional IPv4 space (section 5.4.4).

• Allocation/assignment period (planning window) changes from 12 months to 8 months (section 5.4.5).

• Existing Resource Members are eligible to get additional blocks of IPv4 address space if 90% efficient usage of all resources has been demonstrated (section 5.4.6.1).

• Use of AFRINIC IPv4 resources outside the AFRINIC service region should be solely in support of connectivity back to the AFRINIC region (section 5.4.6.2).

• A /12 IPv4 address block will be reserved from the final /8. This /12 IPv4 address block shall be preserved by AFRINIC for future uses, as yet unforeseen (section 5.4.7).

Please see the relevant sections in the Consolidated Policy Manual for more information.

FUTURE INFORMATION 

AFRINIC will issue another communique when Exhaustion Phase 1 begins, and again when Exhaustion Phase 2 appears to be imminent. 

More information:

• IPv4 exhaustion: www.afrinic.net/en/community/ipv4-exhaustion

• IPv6 deployment: www.afrinic.net/en/services/ipv6-programme

• AFRINIC's Policy Development Process (PDP): www.afrinic.net/en/community/policy-development

• Global Policy Global Policy for the Allocation of the Remaining IPv4 Address Space: www.icann.org/resources/pages/remaining-ipv4-2012-02-25-en

3 April 2017 - On 31st March 2017,AFRINIC has approved a request for IPv4 resources that could not be fulfilled from the IPv4 address space available in the AFRINIC pool (with the exception of the final /8), triggering Phase 1 of IPv4 Exhaustion.

GUIDANCE FOR MEMBERS

AFRINIC Resource Members are kindly requested to familiarise themselves with the IPv4 Soft Landing policy as described in Section 5.4 of the Consolidated Policy Manual, which can be found here.

In addition to the policy itself, please refer to the following previous communiques:

• 16 January 2017, available here
• 30 March 2017, available here
  

To ensure timely evaluation of all Internet number resource requests, Members are requested to ensure that:

• They are in good standing (all fees are paid up, and RSA duly signed)
• Submit complete IPv4 resource requests, including all information needed to verify policy compliance.
• Make arrangements for AFRINIC staff to check online statistics via screen sharing or similar methods, at a time between 06:00UTC and 11:30am UTC, Monday to Friday (between 10:00 and 15:30 Mauritius time (UTC+4)). 

CHANGES TO POLICIES IN EXHAUSTION PHASE 1

Now that Exhaustion Phase 1 has begun, the current IPv4 policies continue to apply, but certain changes take effect:

• The minimum IPv4 allocation for LIRs will be /22, and the minimum IPv4 assignment for End User Members will be /24. (section 5.4.3.1).
• The maximum IPv4 allocation/assignment shall be /13 (section 5.4.3.1).
• No explicit limit on the number of times an organisation may request additional IPv4 space (section 5.4.4).
• Allocation/assignment period (planning window) changes from 12 months to 8 months (section 5.4.5).
• Existing Resource Members are eligible to get additional blocks of IPv4 address space if 90% efficient usage of all resources has been demonstrated (section 5.4.6.1).
• Use of AFRINIC IPv4 resources outside the AFRINIC service region should be solely in support of connectivity back to the AFRINIC region (section 5.4.6.2).
• A /12 IPv4 address block will be reserved from the final /8. This /12 IPv4 address block shall be preserved by AFRINIC for future uses, as yet unforeseen (section 5.4.7).

Please see the relevant sections in the Consolidated Policy Manual for more information

5 April 2017 - The AFRINIC Board has issued the following statement on keeping the Internet open to everyone.

The Internet has changed our world for the better. This is particularly true here in Africa, where communities have harnessed the power of the Internet to improve lives, from the remotest corners of our continent to our high-tech cities. While Africa has the lowest Internet penetration rates and one of the largest as-yet unconnected populations in the world, our online economy is growing quickly, largely due to the expansion of mobile Internet technologies in the region.
 

26 April 2017 - AFRINIC is pleased to advise that the Annual Financial Statements for the financial year to December 2016 is now available here.

Kindly take note that, at its meeting on the 19th April 2017, AFRINIC Board approved the Audited Financial Statements as presented (board resolution 201704.332).

All the required signatures are being assembled and once completed, a fully signed and complete set of 2016 Audited Financial Statements together with the signed External Auditors reports and Opinions shall be published.

As per the bylaws Section 7.6  the audited financial statement will be presented at the AGMM on 1 June 2017, for adoption by the members.

26 April 2017 - The community is hereby informed that at its regular meeting held on 19 April 2017, the AFRINIC Board resolved to ratify the policy proposal AFPUB-2016-V4-003-DRAFT03 (IPv4 Resources Transfer within the AFRINIC region).

Having received and considered a detailed report from the Policy Development Working Group Co-chairs on discussions and life cycle through the Policy Development Process (PDP), the Board determined that the proposal properly followed the PDP and considered the Co-Chairs’ recommendation to ratify it immediately.

The policy will be implemented by AFRINIC starting with the process to modify the current Registration Services Agreement (RSA) in order to remove the current restrictions that prohibit number resource transfers.

A draft RSA, when ready, will be shared with AFRINIC members for comments before it is considered for adoption by the Board.

Any comments or inquiry about the implementation plan for this policy can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

AFRINIC