[Paul Rendek, RIPE NCC]
Dear Colleagues,
There have been press articles posted over the past year that make
statements about the remaining pool of IPv4 address space. A recent article
states there is a shortage and that Internet Protocol Numbers will run out
some time in the year 2005.
The Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) do not themselves make predictions
about when the remaining IPv4 address space will be depleted. They do,
however, report on the rates of RIR allocation of IPv4 address space and on
the state of the remaining pool of IPv4 address space.
The information provided in these RIR reports makes it apparent that many
of the recent claims regarding IPv4 address space shortage are speculative
and are not based on authoritative, publicly available statistics.
IPv4 Address Space: Current Statistics
============================
The global pool of IPv4 addresses is administered by the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA), which allocates address blocks to Regional
Internet Registries (RIRs) as they are required. The IPv4 allocation unit
in this case is the "/8 block", equivalent to approximately 16 million
addresses. It should be noted that as of 30 June 2003 the global pool of
IPv4 address space contained 91 of these blocks for this purpose.
The RIRs report on statistics regarding IPv4 allocation on their respective
web sites and present a "Joint Statistics" report at each of the RIR
meetings and at other Internet industry meetings several times yearly. This
information is publicly available and provides the most up-to-date
statistics on rates of IPv4 allocation. The most recent presentation on
this subject can be found at:
http://www.ripe.net/rs/statistics/resource-status-200310.pdf
This report states that the RIRs have collectively allocated 19.59 /8
equivalents in the four and a half years between January 1999 and June
2003. It also identifies that there are 91 /8 equivalents held by the IANA
in reserve for future allocation by the RIRs.
Based on today's total global allocation rate of approximately 4.25 blocks
per year in 2002, or 5.5 blocks in 2001, and the remaining pool of 91
blocks held by IANA, it is unrealistic to assume that there is an imminent
shortage in the IPv4 address space. Even allowing for a dramatic increase
in address consumption rates, it is highly probable that IPv4 address space
will last well beyond the two years predicted by some.
IPv4 Address Space: Allocated Globally According to Regional Needs
==================================================
The RIRs are not-for-profit membership organisations dedicated to providing
neutral and fair Internet resource distribution to their members, while
ensuring the conservation and aggregation of IPv4 address space. The IANA
policies for allocation of IPv4 address blocks to the RIRs are applied
fairly and are based purely on the documented need for address space.
When IPv4 address space finally "runs out" this will occur at the global
level, leaving each region with a relatively small pool of addresses
remaining to be allocated. It has been suggested that Asia will experience
an IPv4 address shortage before other regions. This is simply not true.
This is because addresses are distributed in a co-ordinated fashion from a
single global pool, and there is no system whereby that pool is exclusively
divided among, or pre-allocated to, different countries or regions. Through
the current system of address administration, IP addresses are allocated
according to immediate need wherever that need is demonstrated and it is
simply not possible for isolated "shortages" to exist.
As has been done in the past, the RIRs will continue to report regularly on
the registration and allocation rates of Internet Protocol Numbers, and
will work closely with the IANA to ensure the efficient management of the
remaining IPv4 address space.
RIR Statistics:
==========
APNIC
http://www.apnic.net/info/reports/index.html
ARIN
http://www.arin.net/statistics/index.html
LACNIC
http://www.lacnic.net/en/est.html
RIPE NCC
http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/mem-services/registration/statistics/
Raw Data/Historical RIR Allocations:
==========================
http://www.aso.icann.org/stats/index.html
http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv4-address-space
The Internet Number Resource Status Report, prepared jointly by the four
RIRs, provides up-to-date statistics on rates of IPv4 allocation. This
presentation is available at:
http://www.ripe.net/rs/statistics/resource-status-200310.pdf
Cheers,
Paul Rendek
Head of Member Services and Communications
RIPE NCC