Draft Policy 2008-3: Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

[Member Services]

SUBJECT: Draft Policy 2008-3: Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

Draft Policy 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

The following draft policy text is being posted for feedback and
discussion on the Public Policy Mailing List (PPML).

After the October 2008 Public Policy Meeting the ARIN Advisory Council
(AC) decided that 2008-3 required more work. The text below was
developed by the AC. The AC was required to submit text to ARIN for
staff and legal assessment prior to selecting it as a draft policy. The
assessment, along with the text that was assessed, is located below the
draft policy.

On 20 March 2009 the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) selected Draft Policy
2008-3: Community Networks IPv6 Assignment for adoption discussion on
the PPML and at the upcoming Public Policy Meeting.

Draft Policy 2008-3 is below and can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2008_3.html

We encourage you to discuss Draft Policy 2008-3 on PPML prior to the
ARIN XXIII Public Policy Meeting. Both the discussion on the PPML and at
the Public Policy Meeting will be used by the ARIN Advisory Council to
determine the community consensus regarding adopting this as policy.

The ARIN Policy Development Process can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/pdp.html

All of the Draft Policies under discussion can be found at:
https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/index.html

Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


## * ##


Draft Policy 2008-3
Community Networks IPv6 Assignment

Date: 23 March 2009

Policy statement:

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network

A community network is any network organized and operated by a mostly
volunteer group operating as or under the fiscal support of a non-profit
organization or university for the purpose of providing free or low-cost
connectivity to the residents of their local service area. To be treated
as a community network under ARIN policy, the applicant must further
certify to ARIN that the community network staff is at least 50%
volunteer and that the annual budget for community network activities is
less than $250,000.

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4
policy currently in effect or be a qualifying Community Network as
defined in Section 2.8, with assignment criteria defined in section 6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Assignments

6.5.9.1 Qualification Criteria

To qualify for a direct assignment, a community network must demonstrate
it will immediately provide sustained service to at least 100
simultaneous users and must demonstrate a plan to provide sustained
service to at least 200 simultaneous users within one year. For
community networks located in rural regions or in the Caribbean and
North Atlantic Islands Sector, the numbers in these qualification
criteria may be relaxed at ARIN's discretion.

6.5.9.2. Initial assignment size

The minimum size of the assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a
larger assignment must provide documentation of the characteristics of
the Community Network's size and architecture that require the use of
additional subnets. An HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet
utilization within the network must be met for all assignments larger
than a /48. These assignments shall be made from a distinctly identified
prefix and shall be made with a reservation for growth of at least a
/44. This reservation may be assigned to other organizations later, at
ARIN's discretion.

6.5.9.3. Subsequent assignment size

Additional assignments may be made when the need for additional subnets
is justified. Justification will be determined based on a detailed plan
of the network's architecture and the .94 HD-Ratio metric. When
possible, assignments will be made from an aggregatable adjacent address
block.


Rationale:

this policy was originally proposed by community network operators to
provide them with the ability to receive a direct assignment of IPv6
address resources from ARIN. the operators of such networks have
expressed their need to have a stable and globally unique address
assignment with which to number their network infrastructure. many such
networks are not able to meet the current criteria for a PI IPv6
assignment from ARIN. in an environment where connections to outside
networks may come and go, a stable internal address structure would be
very valuable. additionally, the ability to exchange routes with others,
whether locally or tunneled, and thereby have native IPv6 connectivity,
would be quite beneficial. these operators were also hopeful that, once
this new class of address assignments was created, they could pursue
lower annual fees for community networks through the ARIN Consultation
and Suggestion Process (ACSP).

there could also be a number of potential benefits to allowing community
network participants to begin using IPv6 addressing. some of these
networks have many technically capable and adventurous members who would
be motivated to begin developing and/or experimenting with the software
extensions which will be needed to support IPv6 prefix selection among
multiple IPv6 prefixes when establishing remote connections. also,
participants in networks receiving such assignments will have the
necessary global-ID to experiment with the various proposals currently
being developed for separating network locater from network ID.

also, during the more than one year timeframe that this policy has been
under consideration, other people have suggested other scenarios where
community networks would provide a valuable resource. one such proposal
was discussed at one of the Caribbean Sector meetings where some
participants pointed out the efforts were being made in remote or
sparsely populated areas to establish community networks which would
serve as connections back to educational resources for distant learning
capabilities. there are also many still wild areas of North America
where such community networks could provide improved connectivity over
telephone modems.

Timetable for implementation: Immediate.


#####


ARIN Staff Assessment

*2008-3*

*Title: Community Networks IPv6 Allocation*

*Proposal Submitted: 04 March 2008*

*Latest Revision Submitted: 06 March 2009 (includes AC revisions)*

*Date of Assessment: 15 March 2009*

I. Understanding of the Policy:

*Staff Understanding of the Proposal:*

ARIN staff understands this policy would provide an IPv6 assignment of a
/48 or larger to any community network that can demonstrate it will
provide service to at least 100 users immediately, and have a plan to
demonstrate that it will provide service to at least 200 users within
one year.

II. Comments

A. ARIN Staff Comments:

· The title of the policy says “allocation” while this policy is clearly
an “assignment” policy. Therefore, the title should be changed. In
addition, the title of section 6.5.9 should be changed to say
“assignment” and not “allocation”.

B. ARIN General Counsel Comments:

Counsel sees no significant legal or litigation risk regarding this policy.

III. Resource Impact

The resource impact of implementing this policy is viewed as minimal. It
is estimated that this policy could require up to 1 person month of
effort to implement following ratification by the ARIN Board of
Trustees. It may require the following:

    * Guidelines Changes
    * Staff training
    * Development of new internal procedures

Text assessed:

2008-3: Community Networks IPv6 Allocation**

*Policy statement:*

[Add Section 2.8 to the NRPM.]

2.8 Community Network

A community network is any network organized and operated by a mostly
volunteer group operating as or under the fiscal support of a non-profit
organization or university for the purpose of providing free or low-cost
connectivity to the residents of their local service area. To be treated
as a community network under ARIN policy, the applicant must further
certify to ARIN that the community network staff is at least 50%
volunteer and that the annual budget for community network activities is
less than $250,000.

[Modify 6.5.8.1b as follows.]

b. qualify for an IPv4 assignment or allocation from ARIN under the IPv4
policy currently in effect or be a qualifying Community Network as
defined in Section 2.8, with allocation criteria defined in section 6.5.9.

[Add Section 6.5.9 to the NRPM.]

6.5.9 Community Network Allocations

6.5.9.1 Qualification Criteria

To qualify for a direct assignment, a community network must demonstrate
it will immediately provide sustained service to at least 100
simultaneous users and must demonstrate a plan to provide sustained
service to at least 200 simultaneous users within one year. For
community networks located in rural regions or in the Caribbean and
North Atlantic Islands Sector, the numbers in these qualification
criteria may be relaxed at ARIN's discretion.

6.5.9.2. Initial assignment size

The minimum size of the assignment is /48. Organizations requesting a
larger assignment must provide documentation of the characteristics of
the Community Network's size and architecture that require the use of
additional subnets. An HD-Ratio of .94 with respect to subnet
utilization within the network must be met for all assignments larger
than a /48. These assignments shall be made from a distinctly identified
prefix and shall be made with a reservation for growth of at least a
/44. This reservation may be assigned to other organizations later, at
ARIN's discretion.

6.5.9.3. Subsequent assignment size

Additional assignments may be made when the need for additional subnets
is justified. Justification will be determined based on a detailed plan
of the network's architecture and the .94 HD-Ratio metric. When
possible, assignments will be made from an aggregatable adjacent address
block.