16 January 2017 - The AFRINIC IPv4 inventory will soon reach a point where the "Current Phase" will end, and "Exhaustion Phase 1" of the IPv4 Soft Landing policy will begin. This is an update on the implementation of the IPv4 Soft Landing policy.

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

SOFT LANDING POLICY

In 2011, the AFRINIC community passed an "IPv4 Soft Landing" policy to deal with the exhaustion of IPv4 address space.  That policy is currently described in Section 5.4 of the Consolidated Policy Manual. (It was earlier known under the identifier "AFPUB-2010-v4-005" as archived here).

The soft landing policy defines several phases for exhaustion of the IPv4 address space: the "Current Phase", "Exhaustion Phase 1", and "Exhaustion Phase 2".  These phases begin and end according to criteria defined in the policy, based on the amount of address space remaining in AFRINIC's IPv4 pool.

FINAL /8

The following definition of the "Final /8" appears in section 5.4.1 of the CPM:

The Final /8 block of IPv4 address space, or "Final /8", is the /8 block of IPv4 address space that has been allocated by the IANA to AFRINIC in terms of section 2.2 C of the Global Policy for the Allocation of the Remaining IPv4 Address Space at the time of exhaustion of the IANA pool of IPv4 address space.

Based on that definition, the "Final /8" is the IPv4 address block 102.0.0.0/8, which was allocated by the IANA to AFRINIC on 3 February 2011 (NRO news article) (AFRINIC news article).

CRITERIA FOR THE START OF EXHAUSTION PHASE 1

Section 5.4.2 of the CPM specifies the following criteria for the end of the Current Phase and the start of Exhaustion Phase 1:

The current phase will continue until an otherwise valid request for IPv4 address space from any LIR or end user to AFRINIC either:

(a) cannot be fulfilled with the IPv4 address space available in the AFRINIC pool (with the exception of the final /8), or

(b) can be fulfilled, but would leave the the AFRINIC IPv4 address pool empty (with the exception of the final /8).

AFRINIC will implement the specified criteria as follows.

When a request for IPv4 resources is approved but cannot be issued as 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 are sufficient smaller block 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 even enough smaller blocks to fulfil the approved request, then the request cannot be fulfilled, and Exhaustion Phase 1 will begin.  The applicant whose request was not fulfilled under the Current Phase may then receive no more than a /13 of IPv4 space under Exhaustion Phase 1.

It is also possible that an approved request under the Current Phase can be fulfilled (either as a single contiguous block or as multiple smaller blocks) but leaves the available IPv4 inventory empty (excluding the final /8).  In that case, Exhaustion Phase 1 will begin immediately after this request is approved, and will apply to all subsequent requests or any requests that are already in progress.

CHANGES IN EXHAUSTION PHASE 1

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

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

CRITERIA FOR THE START OF EXHAUSTION PHASE 2

Exhaustion Phase 1 ends and Exhaustion Phase 2 begins when AFRINIC has no more than one /11 of non-reserved IPv4 space available in the final /8.  (CPM section 5.4.3.1.) The policy does not specify whether the /11 must be contiguous, or may be made up of multiple smaller blocks adding up to the same amount of space.

AFRINIC's interpretation is that the /11 may be made up of multiple smaller blocks.  Accordingly, Exhaustion Phase 2 will begin when the available non-reserved space in the final /8 is no more than 2097152 IP addresses (the same amount as a /11), regardless of how the available addresses are arranged in contiguous or discontiguous blocks.  Nevertheless, AFRINIC will endeavour to keep a contiguous /11 set aside for as long as reasonably feasible.

CHANGES IN EXHAUSTION PHASE 2

When Exhaustion Phase 2 begins, most of the IPv4 policies from Exhaustion Phase 1 continue to apply, but the following changes will take effect:

1. Minimum IPv4 Allocation or Assignment shall be /24. (CPM section 5.4.3.2.)
2. Maximum IPv4 Allocation or Assignment shall be /22. (CPM section 5.4.3.2.)

The following considerations from Exhaustion Phase 1 will continue to apply in Exhaustion Phase 2:

1. No explicit limit on the number of times an organization may request additional IPv4 space. (CPM section 5.4.4.)
2. Allocation/Assignment period (planning window) is 8 months. (CPM section 5.4.5.)
3. Existing Resource Members are eligible to get additional blocks if 90% efficient usage of all resources has been demonstrated. (CPM section 5.4.6.1.)
4. Use of AFRINIC IPv4 resources outside the AFRINIC service region should be solely in support of connectivity back to the AFRINIC region. (CPM section 5.4.6.2.)

Click here to download the PDF

On 20 May 2014, ICANN announced that it had begun the process of allocating the remaining blocks of IPv4 address space to the five Regional Internet Registries (RIR). The trigger for this was LACNIC's pool of IPv4 address space reaching a /9 ( 8,388,606 addresses). LACNIC has now moved into Phase 1 of its community-defined IPv4 Exhaustion Plan. APNIC exhausted its supply of IPv4 address space in 2011 and the RIPE NCC followed quickly in 2012. In April 2014, ARIN announced that it had reached phase 4 of its IPv4 Exhaustion Plan.

"The Internet technical community has been preparing for this phase in global IPv4 exhaustion for the last few years and we expect the community-developed "Global Policy for Post Exhaustion IPv4 Allocation Mechanisms by the IANA" to kick-in shortly," says Adiel A. Akplogan, CEO of AFRINIC. "As we move into this new phase of the Internet's evolution, we cannot ignore the fact that the total exhaustion of the global IPv4 pool will occur in the very near future. Although AFRINIC's supply of IPv4 address space has not reached critically low levels yet, we cannot predict how long our supplies will last. Existing and emerging networks will face scalability issues unless they are made IPv6 ready to ensure long-term network growth and global connectivity. It is now imperative that all African stakeholders ensure that IPv6 is deployed on their networks, that devices are IPv6 enabled and our content is available over IPv6 immediately so that we remain connected to the global IPv6 Internet and so that our millions of future Internet users can get online."

The community is encouraged to contribute to discussions on the Policy Discussion Mailing list and during the upcoming AFRINIC Meeting to voice their opinion on all aspects of regional and global Internet number resource allocation policies.

AFRINIC has been leading the effort throughout Africa to promote and support IPv6 deployment since 2005 through outreach, education, free training courses and provision of an IPv6 testbed. Find out more about our IPv6 Programme.

Read Adiel A. Akplogan's recent statement on the urgent need for all African stakeholders to deploy IPv6.

Geneva, Switzerland, 12 May 2014 – The International Telecommunication Union today signed a letter of intent with the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) on the promotion of IPv6. The letter of intent seeks to establish a high-level framework of cooperation to carry out a number of activities to improve the implementation of IPv6, through the provision of technical assistance to African countries.

“Areas of cooperation include, among others, the development and delivery of joint capacity-building programmes and knowledge sharing,” said Mr Brahima Sanou, Director of the Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT). “Accelerating the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is an important matter for ITU Member States and Sector Members.”

“Currently, 99.4 per cent of physical objects that may one day be part of the “Internet of Things” are still unconnected,” explained Mr Sanou. “Moreover, large areas of the world remain unserved or under-served by Internet connections.   One of the key technologies that can enable progress in Internet connectivity is IPv6. IPv6 will ensure better and increased connectivity, better access to resources and to knowledge.”

"The future of the Internet is on IPv6 and Africa cannot afford to be left behind," said Mr Adiel Akplogan, AFRINIC Chief Executive Officer. "This agreement is an important milestone in AFRINIC's cooperation with ITU. As the Internet is becoming more and more critical to our emerging economies, it is equally critical for our operators, public or private, to safeguard the Internet’s future by building networks that are scalable, resilient and ready to run with the new version of the protocol - IPv6. This is the only way that we can ensure open access and a permission- less innovation capability for the millions of future Internet users coming from our region.”

Since its inception AFRINIC has invested heavily in efforts in capacity building efforts. This investment is meant to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to manage the Internet in the African and Indian Ocean region. Conducted under the ambit of capacity building, the programme is supported by AFRINIC’s avowed mission “to support Internet Technology usage and development across the continent”. This means that AFRINIC has made training a central part of its activities. Since 2005 AFRINIC has held almost 100 trainings and workshops in 50 countries around Africa, training more than 2 000 Engineers.

Every device connected to the Internet is identified by a unique IP address, used to route the data packets globally across the net. The current addressing system, called IP version 4, or IPv4 was deployed in 1983. However, the depletion of IPv4 addresses has been a concern since the late 1980s, when the Internet started to experience dramatic growth. IPv6 was developed to solve the crisis of IPv4 exhaustion.

Future growth of the Internet will require IPv6, with its extremely large address space — it exceeds 340 trillion, trillion, trillion (or 340 undecillion addresses). To give a more tangible idea of the scale, some have compared the number of available IPv6 addresses to the number of grains of sand on the planet.

The BDT Director and the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) have initiated a joint project to help developing countries. The two Directors have also established a website that provides information about global activities being undertaken by relevant entities in the Internet community, for example, RIRs, local Internet registries, operator groups, and the Internet Society (ISOC).

The letter of intent was signed by Mr Brahima Sanou and Mr Adiel Akplogan at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Read the full Letter of Intent.

About AFRINIC

AFRINIC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa and is responsible for the distribution and management of Internet number resources (IPv4, IPv6 and ASNs) throughout the African region. AFRINIC’s mission is to provide professional and efficient distribution of Internet number resources to the African Internet community and to support Internet technology usage and development across the continent. Read more on AFRINIC  and free training courses and our awareness and knowledge programmes in Africa on af6tf and 6spots websites.

ARIN, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for North America, announced on 23 April 2014 that it had entered phase 4 of its IPv4 Countdown Plan, meaning that it is now assigning space from the last /8 of IPv4 address space and that depletion of its pool is imminent.

APNIC exhausted its supply of IPv4 address space back in 2011 and the RIPE NCC followed quickly in 2012.  LACNIC recently announced that it expects its IPv4 pool to be depleted sometime in the first half of 2014. The announcement by ARIN now means that AFRINIC is the only RIR with a non-critically low supply of IPv4 address space.

CEO Adiel Akplogan says, “This, however, does not mean we can be complacent about our supply of IPv4 address space. Consumption levels in the region are increasing rapidly – it is no coincidence that four of the largest IPv4 allocations made worldwide in 2013 were to African nations: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and Seychelles. Africa also has one of the world’s highest penetrations of mobile Internet users, all of whom need IP addresses to get online, and this user-base is growing fast 

We simply cannot afford to think that IPv4 exhaustion is something that affects other regions. In the near future, it is inevitable that AFRINIC will become the only region where, with correct justification, significant amounts of IPv4 address space can be obtained. We expect this to lead to a sharp increase in requests and our Member Services Team is preparing accordingly for this.”

In addition, AFRINIC also expects increased scrutiny of its allocation processes and procedures, especially in the grey-area of non-policy compliant requests. These issues include resources being requested for offshore companies, organisations with entire customer bases outside of AFRINIC’s service region and emerging technologies making it difficult to identify whether a prospective member is an LIR or an End User.

“We encourage the community to contribute to discussions on the Policy Discussion Mailing list and, during the AFRINIC Meetings, to voice their opinion on how AFRINIC should handle all aspects of Internet number resource allocation policies,” says Akplogan. “It is up to the community to define how we move forward at this crucial point in the history of the Internet and we look forward to your input.” 

As the supply of IPv4 address space continues to dwindle, more and more new connections will be made over IPv6 as opposed to IPv4. The future of the Internet will be over IPv6 and, unless African networks and businesses also transition, they risk becoming isolated from the global Internet. As the rest of the world moves to IPv6, Africa also has to make sure its networks, services and content are IPv6 ready to remain a global player.

“As we move into a future where large quantities of IPv4 address space will be unobtainable in many parts of the world, I take this opportunity to reiterate the message that IPv6 deployment cannot wait: you need to ensure that your networks, devices and content are IPv6 ready or enabled sooner rather than later,” concludes Akplogan.

AFRINIC has been leading the effort in the region to promote and support IPv6 deployment since 2005 through outreach, education, free training courses and provision of an IPv6 test bed. Find out more about our IPv6 Programme.