[ppml] Policy Proposal 2003-15: IPv4 Allocation Policy for the Africa Portion of the ARIN Region

[Member Services]

ARIN welcomes feedback and discussion about the following policy 
proposal in the weeks leading to the ARIN Public Policy Meeting 
in Chicago, Illinois, scheduled for October 22-23, 2003. All feedback 
received on the mailing list about this policy proposal will be 
included in the discussions that will take place at the upcoming 
Public Policy Meeting. 

This policy proposal discussion will take place on the ARIN Public 
Policy Mailing List. Subscription information is available at
http://www.arin.net/mailing_lists/index.html 

Member Services 
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) 

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Policy Proposal 2003-15: IPv4 Allocation Policy for the Africa 
                         Portion of the ARIN Region

1. Minimum Allocation. The minimum allocation size for ISPs from the 
African portion of the ARIN region is /22. 

2. Allocation Criteria. 

a. The requesting organization must show the efficient utilization of
an entire previously allocated /22 from their upstream ISP. This 
allocation (/22) may have been provided by an ISP's upstream 
provider(s), and does not have to be contiguous address space. The 
organization must meet the requirement of efficient use of 4 /24s.

b. A multi-homed organization must show the efficient utilization of
an entire previously allocated /23 from their upstream ISP. This 
allocation (/23) may have been provided by an ISP's upstream 
provider(s), and does not have to be contiguous address space. The 
organization must meet the requirement of efficient use of 2 /24s. 

3. Utilization Reporting and Justification. All other ARIN policies 
regarding the reporting of justification information for the 
allocation of IPv4 address space will remain in effect. 

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Discussion: 

This proposal is the result of the discussion and agreement of those
ISPs in the ARIN region that were in attendance at the AfriNIC 
meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 17, 2003. 

This policy proposal is submitted with the intent it only be applied
to the Africa portion of the ARIN region, i.e., those countries in 
Africa that are in the ARIN region. 

It is proposed the minimum allocation criteria and minimum allocation
size for ISPs in Africa be modified. Specifically, the following 
modifications to IPv4 policy are proposed: 

Change the minimum allocation size from a /20 to /22. 
Change the ISP criteria for obtaining an allocation to the following. 

CRITERIA POINT 1 

Current Criteria: The current IPv4 policy for ISPs calls for "the 
efficient utilization of an entire previously allocated /20 from 
their upstream ISP" in order to qualify for a /20 allocation from
ARIN. 

Proposed Criteria: It is proposed the IPv4 policy for ISPs call for 
"the efficient utilization of an entire previously allocated /22 
from their upstream ISP" in order to qualify for a /22 allocation 
from ARIN. 

CRITERIA POINT 2 

Current Criteria: The current IPv4 multi-homed policy states "Multi-
homed organizations that have efficiently utilized a /21 may be 
allocated a /20." 

Proposed Criteria: It is proposed the IPv4 multi-homed policy state 
that, "Multi-homed organizations that have efficiently utilized a 
/23 may be allocated a /22." Due to the emerging nature of Internet 
services in Africa and the economic environment, it is often not 
possible for ISPs to meet the current ARIN criteria for the smallest 
allocation size of a /20, or to obtain the IPv4 address space they 
need from an upstream provider in their area of operation. It is due 
to these reasons, and others listed below, that this proposal is 
submitted. 

Arguments for Policy Change 

The economies of Africa and those of other countries in the ARIN 
region (United States and Canada) are not of the same scale. The 
number of Internet users inside Africa is much fewer than in the 
other countries in the ARIN region. Whereas it may be reasonable to
expect that the user numbers in North America support an ISP's 
ability to meet the current ARIN IPv4 criteria, it is not reasonable
in Africa. Unable to meet the current criteria to obtain IPv4 address
space from ARIN, and unable to obtain adequate address space from 
upstream providers; African ISPs must resort to solutions such as 
NAT, or sometimes are simply not able to provide services to 
customers due to the lack of IPv4 address space. Lack of adequate 
IPv4 address space may be slowing down the growth and development of
the Internet in Africa. 

Proposed Timetable for Implementation 

It is requested this policy proposal be discussed on the ARIN public 
policy mailing list and at the ARIN public policy meeting in October
2003. It is further requested this policy proposal receive immediate 
attention of the ARIN Advisory Council and Board of Trustees 
following the October 2003 meeting for implementation before the 
close of the 2003 calendar year. Implementation of this policy change
is critical to the growth and development of the Internet in the 
Africa portion of the ARIN region.