[AfriNIC-rpd] What is our take on the central pool IPv4 exhaustion?

[Badru Ntege]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rpd-bounces at afrinic.net [mailto:rpd-bounces at afrinic.net] On
> Behalf Of Richard Bell
> Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 7:48 PM
> To: AfriNIC Resource Policy Discussion List; AfriNIC Resource Policy
> Discussion
> Subject: Re: [AfriNIC-rpd] What is our take on the central pool IPv4
> exhaustion?
> 
> I have not followed the debate in detail. However clearly the cost to
> operators of upgrading their networks are significant. Furthermore the
> relative growth of african networks is gaining momentum.  Since many
> networks rely on the second hand equipment markets to grow cost eff
> ectively and since africa has the smallest share of existing ipv4
> allocations, why not do something radical like lobbying for afrinic to
> get the lions share of what's left..................
> 
> Kind Regards,
> Richard Bell
> sent from my Wananchi Mobile
> 
  
[Badru Ntege] 

Richard 

You echo the debate and line we are presenting in the global forum.  The key
is to make sure that we do not deviate too much from the principles that we
have built the internet on namely rfc 2050 and 2008.  However one could
present a valid argument that since AfriNIC had a late start and thus partly
contributing to the current inbalance in percentage allocations compared to
the other established RIR's the divisions of the remaining pool should be
skewed in our interest.  LACnic is also in the same boat.

However we should also start thinking of how we actively address the
transistion to prevent the same argument down the road.  This time as a
continent we will have no excuses.  We are at the table as the decisions are
being made.  

Sure as night follows day depletion is coming and Transistion will have to
happen so in a way the debate on getting more of what is to become legacy
internet could be diversion and concentrating on building a cohesive
continental plan to transition from v4 to v6 might be the right path to
take.  It's all a game of numbers and if Africa as one voice decides to
transistion we might be able to change the underlying economic dynamics
enough to make it economically viable for African networks to overhaul their
legacy V4 networks.  

Maybe AfriNIC needs a policy that ensures that for any established LIR to
get anymore allocations they need to implement an active V6 network.  We
could even go as far as proposing that any large allocation from time x
needs to have a corresponding V6 allocation.

Badru