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How to become an AFRINIC Resource Member

 

 

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1. Overview

The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa responsible for the management and distribution of Internet number resources; IP address space (IPv4 and IPv6) and Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), in its service region, which includes economies in Africa and the Indian Ocean region.

Most of the organisations usually receive a small block of IP resources from their upstream Internet service provider. However, they have to rely on mechanisms such as NAT if they want to publish their reachable Internet services or connect their internal users and customers to the Internet. If an organisation requires IP addresses(minimum /24, i.e. 256 IPv4 addresses) to be used on its operational network or by its downstream customers, the organisation can become an AFRINIC resource member. They will then have their own public IP resources directly from AFRINIC.

This document outlines the process that an organisation must follow to become an AFRINIC resource member.

 


 

2. Benefits of membership

benefitsOne of the critical benefits for a member organisation includes the possibility to change upstream providers without the need to renumber its networks and return the formerly used address space.

Other benefits for AFRINIC resource members include:

  1. Grow and scale their networks and services without having to depend on Translation protocols or the upstream providers
  2. Possibility to have redundant uplinks to the Internet to maximise uptime with least complexity and also be in control of routing information exchanges with their BGP peers
  3. Option to independently manage Internet Routing Registry objects on the AFRINIC database
  4. Acquire Resource Certification using RPKI for secure routing
  5. Get Reverse DNS services for their IP addresses Security
  6. Access to the MyAFRINIC portal to easily manage their IP resources

 


 

membership type

3. Type of Resource Membership

 

(A) A Local Internet Registry (LIR) - primarily assigns Internet resources to the users and customers of the network services it provides.

  • LIRs are generally ISPs, with customers consisting primarily of end-users and possibly other ISPs.
  • Hosting services providers, as well as any organisations that shall issue IPs to their customers or third-parties as part of a service offering, are also categorised as LIRs.
  • The minimum IPv4 allocation for an LIR is a /24 prefix(256 addresses) as per the current policy stipulations.

(B) An End User(EU) - is an organisation that receives assignments of IP addresses exclusively for use on its operational networks.

  • EU's are generally banks, universities, small organisations or individuals who will use the IP resources on their own network and not sub-assign the resources to third-parties.
  • Individuals requesting resource membership will qualify as End-User.
  • The minimum block of IPv4 addresses that can be assigned to an EU is a /24 prefix (256 addresses).

 


cost

4. Fees

There are different member categories and fees based on the size of the address space and the operating activities of each organisation. To have more details on the applicable fees, you may refer to the AFRINIC membership fees schedule which can be accessed here.

Note that all invoices sent by AFRINIC are in USD. 

 

Types of Fees

A) Allocation/Assignment fee - Upon conclusion of the evaluation of a resource request following the policies currently in place at AFRINIC, an allocation/assignment fee shall be invoiced as per the fees schedule.

It is a one-off fee that has to be settled before the IP resources are delegated to the member.

B) Membership fee - shall be charged based on the total aggregated size of all IP prefixes delegated to an organisation and type of resource member(LIR or EU).

For new members, it is prorated from the quarter of the financial year in which the resource approval date falls in; to the end of the year. The membership fee recurs on an annual basis.

 


 

9. Discounts

AFRINIC offers discounts to its members based on the criteria below. The discounts are only attributed after AFRINIC Hostmasters have been able to confirm the member eligibility. In this regard, resource members may be requested to provide more documentation.

  1. Educational Institutions - As per the current fees structure, educational institutions such as universities and Research & Education Networks(RENs) may be eligible for a 50% discount on all fees provided that the resources shall be used exclusively for not-for-profit academic or research activities.
  2. Critical Infrastructure - AFRINIC offers a 100% discount to organisations requesting resources for Critical Infrastructure. This discount applies to the resources which would be used by the critical infrastructure.

Note: The AFRINIC membership fees schedule for these two categories can be viewed under section 5 here

 

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