On 13 January 2020, AFRINIC approved an IPv4 prefix that resulted in no more than a /11 of non-reserved space to be available in the Final /8. The only available prefix as shown in the AFRINIC extended statistics published on 14 January 2020 is 102.192.0.0/11. We are therefore announcing that, as per Section 5.4.3.1 Exhaustion Phase 1 of the AFRINIC Consolidated Policy Manual, Phase 2 of IPv4 Exhaustion has begun.
CHANGES IN EXHAUSTION PHASE 2
When Exhaustion Phase 2 begins, most current IPv4 policies continue to apply, but certain changes take effect:
- Minimum IPv4 Allocation or Assignment shall be /24. (CPM section 5.4.3.2.)
- Maximum IPv4 Allocation or Assignment shall be /22. (CPM section 5.4.3.2.)
- No explicit limit on the number of times an organisation may request additional IPv4 space. (CPM section 5.4.4.)
- Allocation/Assignment period (planning window) is 8 months. (CPM section 5.4.5.)
- 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..)
- 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.)
- Applicable fees for each resource request approval shall be as per https://afrinic.net/membership/cost
Please see the relevant sections in the Consolidated Policy Manual for more information: https://afrinic.net/policy/manual
In conformity with the policy, all currently opened IPv4 resource requests bigger than a /22 will be scaled down to a /22 and the applicants will be informed in their corresponding tickets. We will be proceeding with necessary changes to our systems to limit the size of IPv4 resource requests which can be submitted.
AFRINIC will continue with its housekeeping tasks regarding reclaimed resources when their quarantine period of 12 months is over so that they are cleaned up((no route objects or routing advertisements) and put back in the available pool. In the event that such action in future increases the pool to more than a /11 worth of IPv4 addresses, AFRINIC shall still evaluate the IPv4 resource requests as per terms set for Exhaustion Phase 2.
GUIDANCE FOR MEMBERS
AFRINIC Resource Members should familiarise themselves with Section 5.4 (Soft Landing) of the Consolidated Policy Manual, which can be found here: https://www.afrinic.net/policy/manual#Soft-Landing
In addition to the policy itself, you may refer to the previous communique:
- 16 October 2019, available at https://afrinic.net/2019-10-16-ipv4-exhaustion-phase-2-is-imminent
- 19 August 2019, available at https://www.afrinic.net/2019-08-19-afrinic-approaches-ipv4-exhaustion-soft-landing-phase-2
For the timely evaluation of all Internet number resource requests, Members are requested to ensure that:
- They are compliant with Contractual Obligations checks. More details at https://afrinic.net/ast/pdf/membership-agreement/Contractual_Obligations_Check-082018.pdf
- Submit complete IPv4 resource requests, including all information needed to verify policy compliance.
- All PA assignments, sub-allocations and other types of resource assignments are appropriately registered in the AFRINIC database as per Section 5.3.2 of the Consolidated Policy Manual
- Make arrangements for AFRINIC Hostmasters to check online statistics via screen sharing or similar methods, at a time between 06:00UTC and 11:30 am UTC,
- Monday to Friday (between 10:00 and 15:30 Mauritius time (UTC+4)).
- Be aware of how their ticket is handled by AFRINIC staff https://afrinic.net/support/general-queries/how-afrinic-handle-request
IPv6 Adoption
AFRINIC encourages its members to accelerate the deployment of IPv6 on their networks. The following resources are available to assist them:-
https://elearning.afrinic.net - Online Courses to help engineers learn how to design, plan and implement IP technologies
https://vox.afrinic.net/343185 - to benefit from the AFRINIC team's experience and get face-to-face + step-by-step expert guidance to CONFIDENTLY DEPLOY IPv6!
