[rpd] Statistics on IPV4 allocation in Africa as of 2016

[Owen DeLong]

> On Jun 15, 2016, at 06:07 , Honest Ornella GANKPA <honest1989 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello Andrew,
> 
> So long as its being used to provide internet to the people in Africa, wherever they are, whoever they are, and not flowing off the continent, it doesn’t matter to me.
> 
> I agree with you 100% on this. I believe this is actually what we all want in the end
> 
> We are all one continent, we are all African, and I stand by the view that fair use = let those who need it and can use it, have it.
> 
> I agree with you on this as well. In my opinion, none of the (soft landing) policies were preventing people from getting ressources. Of course if one needs it and can justify the needs, they can get it.
> 
> However we must keep in my mind that this is the last /8 we are talking about. its depletion is inevitable but how are we going to go about it? This is where we disagree. I do not believe we should rush into depletion. Even if the process is slower in our region, it is not that bad. It just means we have more time to prepare (policies and infrastructures) for what comes next.

I’m sorry, Honest, but I couldn’t disagree more.

The continued IPv4 free pool in Africa and the perception that delaying what comes next by slowing down the uptake of IPv4 addresses in Africa is a complete fallacy.

Let me attempt to provide a real world parallel. I apologize for the graphic nature, but it’s the closest I could come in analogy.

Let’s say you are stranded in a remote area with a 7 day supply of food. If you go to the minimum consumption that will still sustain your health, you can stretch it to 10 days. If you go to the minimum that will keep you alive, it will last 21 days.

You might think that the intuitively obvious answer is to go to the minimum that will keep you alive. However, consensus among survival experts is that this is a very wrong answer. See, while you will still be alive after that 21 days, you’ll be extremely weak, very hungry, and your body will have begun feeding off of itself. Your health will be severely compromised and your actual chances of survival overall are greatly reduced. Instead, it is better to go for the 10 day consumption rate and try like hell to get rescued, find food, or reach civilization during those 10 days.

Similarly, the only way to make the free pool last longer in Africa is by starving those providers who have needs now in favor of holding the resources for them or other providers who might need them later.

Instead, the best thing is for all of us to recognize that IPv4 has become unsustainable and stop depending on its continued availability.

Owen

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