Policy Proposal 2007-19: IANA Policy for Allocation of ASN Blocks to RIRs

[Member Services]

On 23 August 2007, the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) concluded their
initial review of "IANA Policy for Allocation of ASN Blocks to RIRs" and
accepted it as a formal policy proposal for
discussion by the community.

The proposal is designated Policy Proposal 2007-19: IANA Policy for
Allocation of ASN Blocks to RIRs. The proposal text is below and can be
found at:
http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2007_19.html

All persons in the community are encouraged to discuss Policy Proposal
2007-19 prior to it being presented at the ARIN Public Policy Meeting in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 17-18 October 2007. Both the discussion on the
Public Policy Mailing List and at the Public Policy Meeting will be used
to determine the community consensus regarding this policy proposal.

The ARIN Internet Resource Policy Evaluation Process can be found at:
http://www.arin.net/policy/irpep.html

ARIN's Policy Proposal Archive can be found at:
http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/proposal_archive.html

Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


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Policy Proposal 2007-19
IANA Policy for Allocation of ASN Blocks to RIRs

Author: Axel Pawlik

Proposal type: New

Policy term: renewable

Policy statement:

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 [1].

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/allocated 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/allocated 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/allocation rate over the previous six months, unless the RIR
specifically requests fewer blocks than it qualifies for.

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.

[1. http://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/proposals/2005-12.html]


Rationale:

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 has 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.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate