AFRINIC is 1.85 million /32s IPv4 away from Phase 2 of IPv4 exhaustion
As of 16 October 2019, AFRINIC has 3.9 million /32s addresses in the available IPv4 pool. We are now 1.85 million /32s addresses away from the /11 threshold which will trigger Phase 2 of IPv4 exhaustion. Consequently, we expect to reach Phase 2 of IPv4 exhaustion by the end of this year.
AFRINIC is still managing Internet number resources as per the requirements outlined in existing policies (the “Phase 1”) but this will change as soon as the threshold for “Phase 2” is reached. The AFPUB-2010-v4-005: IPv4 Soft Landing community-developed policy can be found here: www.afrinic.net/library/policies/697-ipv4-soft-landing-policy
AFRINIC’s available inventory of IPv4 space is updated daily at https://afrinic.net/stats/ipv4-pool
CRITERIA FOR THE START OF EXHAUSTION PHASE 2
Section 5.4.3.1 of the CPM specifies the following criteria for the end of Phase 1 and the start of Exhaustion Phase 2:
“Allocations and assignments will be made from the Final /8 or from any other IPv4 address space available to AFRINIC until no more than a /11 of non-reserved space is available in the Final /8. At this point, the Exhaustion Phase 2 will begin. For the avoidance of doubt, all applications will be in the process at this point will be evaluated as per the new policy.”
AFRINIC will implement the specified criteria as follows:
- 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 2,097,152 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.
- When AFRINIC approves a request for IPv4 resources that cannot be fulfilled from the IPv4 address space available (except the last /11) in the AFRINIC pool, Phase 2 of IPv4 Exhaustion shall be triggered. If an application on the pre-approved list cannot be satisfied in full, the applicant will have the option of either getting an amount of IPv4 addresses that are as close as possible to the requested block or receive up to a /22 from the pool reserved for Phase 2.
