[AfriNIC-rpd] IANA Policy for Allocation of ASN Blocks to RIRs

[Ernest - (AfriNIC)]

Hi All,

We are hereby posting the following proposal "IANA Policy for Allocation
of ASN Blocks to RIRs" on behalf of the author, Axel Pawlik. It has
already been discussed in various regions, and any comments to this
proposal are welcome.

Regards,
Ernest.

__________________________________________________________________________



Author:            Axel Pawlik, on behalf of RIPE NCC, APNIC, ARIN,
                   LACNIC and AfriNIC.

Organisation:      RIPE NCC

Policy Affected:   None

Date:              AUG-20-2007

Proposal:          IANA Policy for Allocation of ASN Blocks to RIRs

Incentive:         There is currently no documented policy that IANA
                   uses to allocate AS number blocks to the RIRS. This
                   proposal addresses the issue.



Summary of Proposal:
--------------------
This proposal is to have a global policy for the Regional Internet
Registries (RIRs) to receive blocks of Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs)
from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).


Draft Policy Text
=================

Abstract
--------
This document describes the policy governing the allocation of Autonomous
System Numbers (ASNs) from the IANA to the Regional Internet Registries
(RIRs).

This policy document does not stipulate performance requirements in the
provision of services by the IANA to an RIR. Such requirements will be
specified by appropriate agreements between ICANN and the Number Resource
Organization (NRO).


1. Allocation Principles
-------------------------
IANA allocates ASNs to RIRs in blocks of 1024 ASNs. In this document, the
term "ASN block" refers to a set of 1024 ASNs. Until 31 December 2009,
allocations of 2-byte only and 4-byte only ASN blocks will be made
separately and independent of each other. This means until 31 December
2009, RIRs can receive two separate ASN blocks, one for 2-byte only ASNs
and one for 4-byte only ASNs from the IANA under this policy. After this
date, IANA and the RIRs will cease to make any distinction between 2-byte
only and 4-byte only ASNs, and will operate ASN allocations from an
undifferentiated 4- byte ASN allocation pool.


2. Initial Allocations
-----------------------
Each new RIR will be allocated a new ASN block.


3. Additional Allocations
-------------------------
An RIR is eligible to receive (an) additional ASN block(s) from the IANA
if one of the following conditions is met:

1. The RIR has assigned 80% of the previously received ASN block

      or

2. The number of free ASNs currently held by the RIR is less than two
months need. This projection is based on the monthly average number of
ASNs assigned by the RIR over the previous six months.

An RIR will be allocated as many ASN blocks as are needed to support
their registration needs for the next 12 months, based on their average
assignment rate over the previous six months, unless the RIR specifically
requests fewer blocks than that for which it qualifies.


4. Announcement of IANA Allocations
------------------------------------
The IANA, the NRO and the RIRs will make announcements and update their
respective websites/databases when an allocation is made by the IANA to
an RIR. ICANN and the NRO will establish administrative procedures to
manage this process.


Rationale:
==========

Arguments Supporting the Proposal
---------------------------------
There are global policies governing the allocation of IPv4 and IPv6
blocks from the IANA to RIRs. At this point there is no specific policy
regarding the allocation of Autonomous System Numbers from the IANA to
the RIRs. This proposal will create a policy to fill this gap.

The criteria being proposed have already been the practice between IANA
and RIRs so far and it has been proven to work. It is designed to allow
RIRs to request ASN blocks from the IANA in a timely fashion and maintain
enough ASNs in holding to ensure that their registration services can be
sustained.

It is also proposed that the RIRs be allocated as many ASN blocks as are
needed to support their registration needs for the next 12 months. This
will generally mean that each RIR will only need to make one ASN request
from the IANA each year, thus lowering operational overhead for the RIRs.


Arguments Opposing the Proposal
-------------------------------
None.

__________________________________________________________________________