Guidelines

 

2.0 AFRINIC Guidelines for IPv6

These guidelines have been established within the AFRINIC community and are compatible with the IPv6 address space management aims and policies.

They are solely designed to help entities who require IPv6 address space.

 

2.1 Allocation to Local Internet Registries (LIRs)

A Local Internet Registry (LIR) is an IR that receives allocations from an RIR and primarily assigns address space to 'end-users'. LIRs are generally ISPs. Their customers are other ISPs and possibly end-users. LIRs must be members of AFRINIC.

AFRINIC, in its capacity as a Regional Internet Registry, provides IPv6 address space to LIRs with global or local connectivity if it satisfies the requirements outlined in the AFRINIC Consolidated Policy Manual.

 

2.1.1 Requirements to be eligible for IPv6 allocation

An organisation must meet the following criterion to receive an IPv6 allocation from AFRINIC.

• The entity, as an LIR, must be able to demonstrate a clear strategy to deliver IPv6 connectivity/services to other organisations/end-users or self-owned/related departments/entities/sites in the AFRINIC region.
• The organisation should provide a realistic plan for assigning /48 IPv6 addresses to end sites in the AFRINIC area over twelve (12) months.
• To minimise the global routing table expansion, the addressing space allocated under this policy must be announced within twelve (12) months and, and to the extent practicable, as a single aggregated prefix - Space may not be announced in some extremely exceptional circumstances, but the same has to be justified.

 

2.1.2 Initial Allocation Criteria

• Organisations that meet the above criterion are eligible to receive a minimum allocation of /32.
• Organisations may qualify for an initial allocation more significant than a /32 IPv6 block by submitting documents supporting their request.
• The initial allocation shall be based on the needs of an entity to serve their clients, based on the extent of their network infrastructure, the number of end-users and their network topology.

The applicable section of the CPM: Section 6.5.1 Initial allocation

 

2.1.3 Rectifying the size of Initial Allocation

LIRs may request to rectify their initial IPv6 PA allocation if it no longer satisfies their needs without the obligation to prove utilisation thresholds that apply for subsequent IPv6 PA allocations. AFRINIC will evaluate the request, and, if approved, the same address block will be "upgraded" to the new required prefix size.

However, if other organisations are already using the adjacent prefixes or if making the allocation would not leave sufficient space for subsequent allocations, the member will have to choose either to:

1. Receive a new block with which they shall renumber their network and return the 'original' initial allocation within six months, or;
2. Receive a complementary prefix to complete their addressing plan and announce the 'original' initial prefix and the new prefix resulting from the new allocation. In the case of future subsequent allocation requests, both allocations shall be considered as if they were a single allocation.

Note that a member can request the rectification of IPv6 PA space only once.

 

2.1.4 Requirements for IPv6 PA rectification

Any member requesting to rectify the initial assignment or allocation must provide a detailed IPv6 addressing plan demonstrating their needs for the next 12 months. If the prefix is not advertised, the member must inform AFRINIC and give a reasonable justification.

The applicable section of the CPM: Section 6.5.1.3. Rectifying the size of initial allocations

 

2.1.5 Requirements for IPv6 Subsequent allocation

Organisations with an existing IPv6 allocation may request a subsequent allocation to comply with the criteria outlined below.

• An LIR is eligible for a subsequent allocation if it meets the evaluation criterion of previous address use regarding the number of sites in units of /48 assignments. The HD- Ratio [ RFC 3194 ] is used to calculate the usage levels that justify allocating extra addresses.
• The organisation shall receive additional address space from AFRINIC if it can demonstrate that it has reached an acceptable usage of its allocated address space; it is instantly eligible for a new allocation, resulting in a doubling of the address space initially given.
• The organisation must provide documentation justifying the space required to serve its clients, the number of users, the extent of its infrastructure, hierarchical or geographic structure, infrastructure segmentation for security or other reasons, and the anticipated longevity for the initial allocation.

Wherever feasible, the allocation will be made from a neighbouring address block, which means that its current allocation will be extended one bit to the left.

The applicable section of the CPM: Section 6.5.2 Subsequent allocation

 

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2.2 PI Assignments

IPv6 provider-independent (PI) addresses are issued to end-sites of end-user companies under this policy. These include critical infrastructure providers such as TLD root server operators and public Internet Exchange Points (IXPs).

 

2.2.1 Requirements for PI assignments

Organisations that meet the following requirements will receive a minimum of a /48 from AFRINIC.

• End-user organisations that provide services for their administrative organisations' networks, that is, internal networks
• The entity cannot be a Local Internet Registry (LIR)
• The organisation must be or become an AFRINIC End User Member.
• The organisation must justify the number of end-sites and the requirement for IPv6 PI address space.
• The organisation must not be an LIR.
• The organisation must be or become an AFRINIC End User Member.
• The organisation must justify the number of end-sites and the need for the IPv6 PI address space.
• Within twelve (12) months, the organisation must deploy the IPv6 provider-independent address space at each end-sites for which addresses are obtained.
• If the addressing space issued under this policy is to be announced, the organisation shall aggregate any prefix announcements to minimise global routing table growth.

 

2.2.2 PI assignment address space

• Each organisation's initial PI assignment size is a /48 Pv6 block per site. Suppose multiple end sites are requested and will be connected. In that case, valid documentation shall be solicited, and upon successful evaluation, a nibble-aligned prefix shall be issued sufficient to allow at least one /48 per end-site.
• The organisation assignment will be calculated based on the number of end-sites and adjusted to the nearest nibble-boundary.
• AFRINIC shall use a sparse allocation algorithm when issuing space so that assignments made from a contiguous address block

The applicable section of the CPM: Section 6.8 PI Assignments

 

2.2.3 Rectifying the size of the initial assignment

• An organisation needs to submit a new addressing plan to AFRINIC if the project initially submitted to justify the initial assignment no longer satisfies their current needs.
• The organisation will have to demonstrate the needs for the rectification, and the new assignment will need to be consistent with the new plan and comply with the above sections; 2.5.2 and 2.5.3 accordingly.

AFRINIC shall upgrade the same address block to the new required prefix size; however, if the adjacent prefixes are already in use, the following two options are available:

• Returning the old block, and a new block is assigned to the organisation
• Receive a new block that covers the new justified need and keeps both blocks together with the block that has already been assigned. This procedure can only be used once by each organisation.

The applicable section of the CPM: Section 6.8.4 Rectifying the size of an initial assignment

 

2.2.4 Sub assignments

IPv6 Sub-Assignments implies the use of the address space assignment solely by the original holder of assignment and third-party devices, subject to operating within the initial holder infrastructure.

Examples of Sub-Assignments are described as follows:

1. Guests users in a network - A guest network is a point indifferent from the whole network which provides access to the Internet

2. Hotspot users - They are users who can access the Internet, typically using Wi-Fi, via a wireless local area network (WLAN)

3. Employees in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) - These employees bring their personally owned devices (laptops, tablets) to their workplace to access privileged company information and applications

4. Associations or community networks

5. End-user contracting third parties for services (VPN services, Camera Surveillance etc.) in their network need to deploy their own devices, network equipment, etc. IP addresses shall be used for the devices

6. Students from universities - The list is endless considering the address space assignment is only used by the original holder of the assignment, and as long as third parties operate within the original holder infrastructure.

Sub-assignments are not allowed outside an infrastructure for which resources were requested. Examples of such a situation imply sub-assigning IP addresses to Internet Service Providers or providing address space to data centres or similar cases.

The applicable section of the CPM: Section 6.8.5 "Sub-Assignments" is not allowed

 

 

Fees & Categories

 

3.0 IPv6 fees and categories

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.

However, IPv6 is in its early adoption stage in our region. To encourage and promote its usage in the region, the following advantages have been allotted to IPv6 users.

3.1 For existing members (with IPv4 allocation(s) or EU/PI assignments)

• No additional fees as a result of the issued IPv6 prefix will apply.
• Not to consider the new IPv6 prefix allocation or PI assignment in calculating the billing category of the member.

3.2 For new members (IPv6 only members)

The following fees will apply to Resource Members issued with only IPv6 prefixes. A 50% discount on the Allocation fee and a 100% discount on the first year's membership fees will apply. For the three subsequent years, 75%, 50% and 25% discount on the membership fee will apply respectively.

 

 

Statistics

 

4.0 IPv6 in AFRINIC Region

 

Click here to review the extensive IPv6 related statistics at https://stats.afrinic.net/ipv6/.