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Policies for IPv4 address space management in the Asia Pacific region

APNIC Document identity
Title: Policies for IPv4 address space management in the Asia Pacific region
Short title: draft-add-manage-policy
Document ref: draft-add-manage-policy Version: 010
Date of original publication: 21 December 2001 Date of this version: 04 October 2010
Review scheduled: n/a Obsoletes: Previous versions
Status: Draft Comments: n/a

About this document

This document represents current APNIC practices and policies for IPv4 address space.

This document should be read in conjunction with other APNIC documents, including those dealing with membership and fees.

Table of contents

Part 1: Background, definitions, goals, and environment
1. Introduction
2. Scope
3. Hierarchy of IPv4 address space distribution
4. Definitions

5. Goals of address space management

6. Policy environment

Part 2:  Policies for address space management
7. General policy framework

8. Address requests

9. Address allocation

10. LIR address space management

11. Assignments and exchanges

12. Closure of LIRs
13. Request evaluation guidelines

Part 1: Background, definitions, goals, and environment

1. Introduction

APNIC (the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre) is the Regional Internet Registry for the Asia Pacific region, responsible for distributing public Internet address space and related resources in the region and for coordinating the development and implementation of policies to manage those resources.

The policies described in this document have been developed by the Internet community of the Asia Pacific region through a consensus process facilitated by APNIC. They are to be implemented by APNIC and by the National Internet Registries and the Local Internet Registries throughout the region.

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2. Scope

This document describes policies for the responsible management of global IPv4 public address space in the Asia Pacific region. Specifically, this document focuses on the goals, assumptions, and policies relating to the allocation and assignment of IPv4 address space.

This document does not describe specific addressing policies related to IPv6, Multicast, Private Address Space, or Autonomous System numbers. It should be read in conjunction with other APNIC documents, including those dealing with membership and fees.

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3. Hierarchy of IPv4 address space distribution

IPv4 addresses are distributed in accordance with the hierarchical structure described in RFC2050, represented simply in fig.1.

[Figure 1: Diagram of distribution hierarchy]

Distribution Hierarchy

In this hierarchy, IANA allocates address space to APNIC, to be redistributed throughout the Asia Pacific region. APNIC allocates address space to Internet Registries (IRs) and also delegates to them the authority to make assignments and allocations. In some cases APNIC assigns address space to end users. National and Local IRs allocate and assign address space to their members and customers under the guidance of APNIC and in accordance with the policies and procedures described in this document.

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4. Definitions

The following terms and definitions are used in this document.

4.1 Internet Registry (IR)

An Internet Registry (IR) is an organization that is responsible for distributing IP address space to its members or customers and for registering those distributions. IRs are classified according to their primary function and territorial scope within the hierarchical structure depicted in fig.1 above.

IRs include:

  • APNIC and other Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)
  • National Internet Registries (NIRs)
  • Local Internet Registries (LIRs), unless the specific context of the reference requires otherwise.

4.1.1 Regional Internet Registry (RIR)

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are established under the authority of IANA to serve and represent large geographical regions. Their primary role is to manage, distribute, and register public Internet address space within their respective regions. Currently, there are four RIRs: APNIC, RIPE NCC, LACNIC, and ARIN, although a small number of additional RIRs may be established in the future.

4.1.2 National Internet Registry (NIR)

A National Internet Registry (NIR) primarily allocates address space to its members or constituents, which are generally LIRs organized at a national level. NIRs are expected to apply their policies and procedures fairly and equitably to all members of their constituency.

The policies in this document apply to NIRs; however, this document does not describe the entire roles and responsibilities of NIRs with respect to their formal relationship with APNIC. Such roles and responsibilities may be described in other documents and agreements, subject to APNIC Document review procedures.

4.1.3 Local Internet Registry (LIR)

A Local Internet Registry (LIR) is generally an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and may assign address space to its own network infrastructure and to users of its network services. LIR customers may be other "downstream" ISPs, which further assign address space to their own customers.

4.2 Internet Exchange Point

An Internet Exchange Point (IX or IXP) is a layer 1 and layer 2 network structure that interconnects three or more Autonomous Systems (AS) for the purpose of Internet traffic interchange.

4.3 Address space

In this document, address space means public IPv4 address ranges, excluding multicast addresses and private addresses defined by RFC1918.

4.4 Allocated and Assigned address space

For the purposes of understanding APNIC address space policies, it is important to make a clear distinction between the terms "allocated" and "assigned".

4.4.1 Allocated

Allocated address space is address space that is distributed to IRs or other organizations for the purpose of subsequent distribution by them.

4.4.2 Assigned

Assigned address space is address space that is delegated to an ISP or end-user, for specific use within the Internet infrastructure they operate. Assignments must only be made for specific, documented purposes and may not be sub-assigned.

4.5 Current resources

Current resources are Internet resources registered by APNIC under explicit policies and agreements. Resources include public IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, Autonomous System numbers, and reverse DNS delegations.

4.6 Historical resources

Historical resources are Internet resources registered under early registry policies without formal agreements and include:

  • Registrations transferred to APNIC as part of the AUNIC to APNIC migration
  • Registrations transferred as part of the Early Registration Transfer (ERX) project
  • Historical APNIC resources.

For more information on historical resources, see: Policies for historical Internet resources in the APNIC Whois Database at http://www.apnic.net/policy/historical-resource-policies..

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5. Goals of address space management

5.1 Goals

The goals described here were formulated by the Internet community and reflect the mutual interest of all members of that community in ensuring that the Internet is able to function and grow to the maximum extent possible.

It is APNIC's primary duty, as a custodian of a public resource, to ensure that these goals are met within the Asia Pacific region. APNIC does this by providing guidance and leadership in developing and implementing responsible policies and practices.

It is the responsibility of every NIR and LIR to also ensure that these goals are met within their respective regions and communities.

5.1.1 Uniqueness

Every assignment and allocation of address space must be guaranteed as globally unique. This is an absolute requirement for ensuring that every public host on the Internet can be uniquely identified.

5.1.2 Registration

All assignments and allocations made directly by APNIC to its members and customers must be registered in a publicly accessible database. This is necessary to ensure uniqueness and to provide information for Internet troubleshooting at all levels. It also reflects the expectation of the Internet community that custodians of these public resources should be identifiable. Organizations that receive an allocation from APNIC can choose whether or not their customer assignment registrations should be publicly available. If the organization does not indicate a choice, or it chooses to hide its customer assignment registrations, then those records will not be visible in the public whois database. Whois queries on these records will return details of the allocation.

5.1.3 Aggregation

Wherever possible, address space should be distributed in a hierarchical manner, according to the topology of network infrastructure. This is necessary to permit the aggregation of routing information by ISPs, and to limit the expansion of Internet routing tables.

5.1.4 Conservation

To maximize the lifetime of the available resource, address space must be distributed according to actual need and for immediate use. Stockpiling address space and maintaining reservations are contrary to this goal. Conservation also implies efficiency. Therefore, all users of address space should adopt techniques such as Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM) and appropriate technologies that ensure the address space is not used wastefully.

5.1.5 Fairness

All policies and practices relating to the use of address space should apply fairly and equitably to all existing and potential members of the Internet community, regardless of their location, nationality, size, or any other factor.

5.2 Conflict of goals

The goals of conservation and aggregation often conflict with each other. Also, some or all of the goals may occasionally conflict with the interests of individual IRs or end-users. Therefore, IRs evaluating requests for address space must carefully analyse all relevant considerations and try to balance the needs of the requestor with the needs of the Internet community as a whole.

This document is intended to help IRs perform their role in consistent and equitable ways. IRs must maintain full documentation of and transparency within the decision making process.

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6. Policy environment

Apart from the goals described in Section 5, other factors influence the APNIC policy environment. These other factors include the expectations of the Internet community, current administrative structures, and technological constraints.

The policy environment may change quickly or in unpredictable ways, so APNIC, on behalf of its members, must monitor any changes and communicate any policy implications.

This Section describes the factors in the current operating environment that have been most important in determining current APNIC policies.

6.1 Routability

The routability of address space throughout the Internet can never be guaranteed by any single organization. To reduce the number of globally advertised routes, ISPs may implement route filtering policies based on prefix length. As a result, small portable assignments are the most likely to suffer routability problems. Therefore, APNIC policies encourage those seeking address space to request from upstream providers rather than from APNIC directly.

6.2 Internet growth rates

Early strategies for distributing address space did not anticipate the rapid growth of the Internet and the scaling problems that followed, affecting both the amount of address space available and routing. Therefore, APNIC policies take account of past experience and seek to manage address space in a way that will maximize future scaling of the Internet.

6.3 Collective responsibility

APNIC shares with its members and their customers a collective responsibility to ensure manageable and scalable Internet growth and to make decisions consistent with the goals described in Section 5. Therefore, APNIC policies and procedures are developed by APNIC members and the broader Internet community as a whole, in the common interest of those communities. In implementing policies, APNIC and its members rely on an implicit trust that delegated responsibilities are carried out in good faith. Specifically, APNIC must trust that the information gathered from members during the request process is genuine and accurate.

6.4 Impartiality

APNIC represents the interests of the Internet community in general and the Internet community of the Asia Pacific region in particular. Therefore, APNIC must apply its policies fairly and equitably, without regard to an organization's size, geographic location, or any other factor.

6.5 Varying levels of expertise

Different IRs and end users have varying levels of experience and expertise. APNIC policies allow for varying levels of assistance and monitoring, appropriate to ensure a consistent approach to address space management throughout the AP Internet community.

6.6 Address ownership

The Internet community regards address space as a scarce, public resource that should only be distributed according to demonstrated need. ISPs and other organizations and individuals that use address space are considered "custodians" rather than "owners" of the resource. As address space becomes more scarce, address space management policies may be adjusted by the community.

6.7 Address stockpiling

Stockpiling addresses is harmful to the goals of conservation and fairness. APNIC policies must prevent stockpiling and ensure efficient deployment of address space on the basis of immediate demonstrated need.

6.8 Evaluations to be based on best practice

APNIC should ensure that address space holders adopt current best practice in management of the resources they use. If appropriate technologies exist for improved management of address space in particular situations, the community expects that those technologies should be used. APNIC consults with its members and the broader Internet community to define and develop current best practice recommendations relating to Internet addressing technologies and techniques.

6.9 Private address space

The use of private address space may be appropriate for addressing networks that are connected to the Internet via a firewall, and where there are not technical requirements for the use of public address space. In general, private address space should be used for networks not connected to the Internet.

6.10 Minimum practical allocations

Because the goals of aggregation and conservation conflict, it is necessary to apply a minimum practical size for address space allocations. This minimum allocation size may be reviewed from time to time, as technologies and administrative conditions evolve. The current minimum practical allocation is a /22 (1024 addresses).

6.11 Documentation

To properly evaluate requests, IRs must carefully examine all relevant documentation relating to the networks in question. This documentation may include:

  • network engineering plans
  • subnetting plans
  • descriptions of network topology
  • descriptions of network routing plans
  • equipment invoices and purchase orders
  • other relevant documents.

All documentation should conform to a consistent standard and any estimates and predictions that are documented must be realistic and justifiable.

6.12 Confidentiality

The documentation which supports address space requests involves information that may be highly confidential to the organizations and individuals involved. Therefore, APNIC will operate in ways that reflect the trust implicit in its position by applying and enforcing procedures that protect the confidential information of its members and their customers.

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Part 2:  Policies for address space management

7. General policy framework

7.1 IRs to adopt consistent address space management policies

All NIRs and LIRs that receive address space from APNIC (either directly or indirectly) must adopt allocation and assignment policies that are consistent with the policies described in this document.

NIRs and LIRs must ensure that address space for which they are responsible is only allocated or assigned subject to agreements consistent with the license provisions of section 9.1.

Also, NIRs must, wherever possible, apply slow start, assignment window, and second opinion policies to their own members in a manner consistent with the way APNIC applies such policies.

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8. Address requests

8.1 Processing of requests dependent on correct documentation

APNIC will only process requests that have been completely and properly documented. If the documentation contains errors or omissions, APNIC will advise the applicant as soon as possible. APNIC may also request the applicant to provide further information or clarify relevant issues that are not clear in the initial request.

APNIC will process the request as soon as the errors and omissions have been rectified or the additional questions have been answered.

APNIC will make all reasonable efforts to maintain a consistent and reliable level of service with respect to processing of requests.

8.2 Security and confidentiality

APNIC will maintain systems and practices that protect the confidentiality of all information relating to the commercial and infrastructure operations of all members and their customers. APNIC will ensure that the employment of all of its staff or agents is based upon an explicit condition of confidentiality regarding such information.

APNIC provides for authorisation and verification mechanisms within the APNIC Whois Database. It is the responsibility of each IR or end-user to apply these mechanisms.

8.3 Equitable processing of requests

APNIC will deal with all requests strictly in the order in which it receives the proper documentation. To provide fair treatment for all applicants, APNIC will not in any circumstance provide for special treatment or make exceptions to the standard order of request processing.

APNIC will seek to process all requests within a consistent time and will maintain a request tracking system for efficient request management.

8.4 General requirements for allocation requests

All requests for address space must be supported by documentation describing:

  • the network infrastructure of the organization making the request;
  • any address space currently held by that organization (including historical address space);
  • previous assignments made by that organization (including assignments made from historical address allocations); and
  • the intended use for the address space requested.

In addition to this general requirement, more specific documentation may also be requested (see Sections 9.2, 9.3, and 9.4).

8.5 Organizations seeking address space from multiple IRs

Organizations must obtain their address space from only one IR at a time. Organizations requesting address space from any IR must declare all the address space they currently hold, regardless of the source. organizations making concurrent requests to more than one IR must declare the details of all of those requests.

In certain circumstances (for example, where an organization is multihomed), strong technical reasons may justify an organization receiving address space from more than one source.

For the purposes of this section, a parent organization and its subsidiaries are considered to be a single organization. Exceptions may arise in cases where the parts of the organization:

  • are separate legal entities;
  • maintain fully independent network infrastructures and are routed under different Autonomous System numbers; or
  • or can otherwise demonstrate a justified need to obtain address space from more than one IR.

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9. Address allocation

9.1 Address space license

APNIC will allocate and assign Internet resources on a 'license' basis, with such licenses to be of specific limited duration (normally one year).

The conditions of all licenses are described in the APNIC membership agreements, service agreements, and other relevant APNIC documents.

Licenses to organizations shall be renewable on the following conditions:

  • the original basis of the allocation or assignment remains valid; and
  • that address space is properly registered at the time of renewal.

When a license is renewed, the new license will be subject to address space policies and license conditions effective at the time of renewal, provided that a minimum notice period of one year is given of any substantial changes to the conditions of the current license.

All substantial changes to license conditions are subject to the consensus of APNIC members, in accordance with the APNIC Document Review Policies and Procedures.

Individual licenses shall only be subject to review if the relevant IR has reason to believe that the existing license terms are no longer being complied with. IRs may implement their own procedures for the review of existing licenses as they see fit.

9.2 Slow start mechanism

Subject to Section 9.2.1, APNIC and NIRs apply a slow start mechanism to all new LIRs. The slow start is applied to prevent allocations of large blocks of address space that may then remain substantially unassigned.

The initial allocation an LIR receives from APNIC will be the size of the minimum practical allocation described in Section 6.10.

9.2.1 Exceptions to slow start

In exceptional circumstances, an LIR may receive a greater initial allocation if it can demonstrate that its immediate need for address space exceeds the standard slow start allocation.

The documentation required to justify an exception to the slow start may include (but is not limited to):

  • receipts for purchase of equipment,
  • purchase orders, or
  • signed project contracts indicating the immediate network requirements to be met by the LIR.

9.3 Criteria for initial allocation

To be eligible to obtain an initial allocation, an LIR must:

  • have used a /24 from their upstream provider or demonstrate an immediate need for a /24;
  • have complied with applicable policies in managing all address space previously allocated to it (including historical allocations);
  • demonstrate a detailed plan for use of a /23 within a year; and
  • commit to renumber from previously deployed space into the new address space within one year.

9.4 Criteria for subsequent allocations

After the initial allocation to an LIR, all subsequent allocations will depend on the following:

  • the LIR's verified usage rate (which is the rate at which the LIR made assignments and sub-allocations from relevant past allocations, including historical allocations)
  • their documented plans for address space; and
  • their degree of compliance with APNIC policies with respect to relevant past allocations.

Based on these factors, APNIC and NIRs will allocate enough address space to meet the LIR's estimated needs for a period up to one year. If APNIC or the NIR make an allocation based on a period of less than one year, then they must inform the LIR of the length of the period and the reasons for selecting it.

9.4.1 No guarantee of contiguous allocations

APNIC will attempt to make subsequent allocations contiguous with previous allocations, but cannot guarantee that this will be possible.

9.5 Prior allocations to be used first

An LIR is not eligible to receive subsequent allocations until its current assignments account for at least eighty percent of the total address space from all allocations it holds. This is referred to as the "eighty percent rule".

9.5.1 Special circumstances – large assignments

An LIR may request an exception to the eighty percent rule if it needs to make a single assignment that is larger than the amount of space remaining.

9.6 Reservations not supported

When an LIR wants to assign address space for customers, it must make the assignments from any address space it currently holds.

When evaluating allocation requests, reserved address space is considered to be unassigned.

9.7 Address aggregation

It is a condition of all allocations, that the allocated address space is aggregated by the LIR within a minimum number of route announcements (preferably one).

LIRs must only assign or sub-allocate addresses to customers who will be using those addresses in relation to network connectivity services provided by the LIR.

LIRs are expected to enter into agreements with their customers specifying that the end-user will hold the addresses only for so long as the end-user remains a customer of that LIR. Such agreements should also be consistent with the license under which the address space is being used by the LIR.

9.8 Validity of allocations and assignments

An allocation or assignment of address space is valid only while the original criteria on which the allocation or assignment was based continue to be valid.

An allocation or assignment becomes invalid if it is:

  • made for a specific purpose that no longer exists; or
  • based on information that is later found to be false or incomplete.

If an allocation or assignment shall become invalid then the address space must be returned to the appropriate IR.

9.9 Transfer of address space

Subject to the more specific provisions of the APNIC transfer, merger, acquisition and takeover policies document APNIC does not recognise the sale or unauthorised transfer of address space and will consider all such transfers to be invalid. APNIC will require organizations holding such transfers to return them to the appropriate IR.

9.10 Distribution of the final /8 worth of space in the unallocated APNIC IPv4 address pool

When the total remaining space in the unallocated APNIC address pool reaches a threshold of a total of one /8, the following policies will come into force.

9.10.1 Allocations to LIRs

Each APNIC account holder will be eligible to request and receive a single allocation from the remaining /8 worth of space, with the following conditions:

  1. Each allocation will consist of the minimum IPv4 allocation size
  2. The account holder must meet the criteria for receiving an IPv4 allocation specified in one of the following sections of this policy document:
    • 9.3 Criteria for initial allocation
    • 9.4 Criteria for subsequent allocations

All APNIC account holders are eligible to receive only one allocation from the final /8 worth of address space. This applies to both current and future account holders.

9.10.2 Allocations for future uses

A /16 will be held in reserve for future uses, as yet unforeseen.

If the reserved /16 remains unused by the time the rest of the remaining /8 worth of space has been allocated, the /16 will be returned to the APNIC pool for distribution under the policy described in Section 9.10.1, "Allocations to LIRs".

9.10.3 Transfers of IPv4 between APNIC account holders

For more information on this policy, see section 3 of APNIC transfer, merger, acquisition and takeover policy at http://www.apnic.net/policy/transfer-policy.

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10. LIR address space management

Subject to the following provisions, LIRs may either sub-allocate or assign address space to their customers.

10.1 Assignment window for LIRs

APNIC and NIRs shall apply an assignment window mechanism to help LIRs understand and comply with APNIC policies and the address management goals.

The assignment window indicates the maximum number of addresses that an LIR may assign or sub-allocate to an end-user without first seeking a 'second opinion'. If an LIR wishes to make an assignment or sub-allocation that exceeds its assignment window, the LIR must first submit a second opinion request.

LIRs start with an assignment window of zero, meaning all proposed assignments and sub-allocations must first be approved.

APNIC or the relevant NIR will regularly assess the proficiency of LIR staff in making assignments and sub-allocations and seeking second opinions, and will review the size of the assignment window accordingly. As the LIR staff become more proficient, the size of their assignment window may be raised.

The maximum assignment window given to any LIR will be a /19 (8,192 addresses).

If an LIR's staff appears to become less proficient (for example, due to the training of new staff or other relevant circumstances) then that LIR's assignment window may be temporarily reduced.

10.2 Assignment usage estimates

Requests for assignments must be supported by usage estimates based on immediate and projected future need. These requests must be accompanied by documentation that supports the estimates.

The estimates should made for the following periods:

  • immediately;
  • within one year; and
  • within two years.

APNIC recommends that, as a general guideline, organizations should base their assignment requests on the assumption that 25 percent of the address space will be used immediately and 50 percent used within one year.

The end-user must provide documentation that supports its one year usage estimate. If it is not possible for the end-user to estimate confidently what the two year usage rate will be, then APNIC or the NIR may make an allocation that will be sufficient for the one year needs only.

10.3 Sub-allocations by LIRs

LIRs may sub-allocate address space to their downstream customers which are operating networks, such as ISPs, subject to the following conditions:

  • Sub-allocations are non-portable and must be returned to the LIR if the downstream customer ceases to receive connectivity from the LIR.
  • Sub-allocations are subject to the LIR's assignment window. Requests for sub-allocations which exceed the LIR's assignment window must first be referred to APNIC for second opinion approval.
  • The downstream customer which receives a sub-allocation from an LIR is not permitted to further sub-allocate the address space.

10.3.1 Effect of sub-allocations on LIR's usage rate

For the purposes of evaluating the LIR's usage rate (see sections 9.4 and 9.5), sub-allocated address space will be considered as "used". However, APNIC will give careful consideration to the registration of assignments within the allocations, and may request supporting documentation as necessary.

10.4 Registration requirements

IRs are responsible for promptly and accurately registering their allocations, sub-allocations, and assignments with APNIC as follows:

  • All allocations and sub-allocations must be registered.
  • Assignments for networks greater than /30 must be registered.
  • Assignments for networks of /30 or less may be registered, at the discretion of the IR and the network administrator.
  • Assignments to hosts may be registered, at the discretion of the IR and the end-user.

IRs can choose whether or not to designate this information 'public'. Customer registration details that are not designated 'public' will not be generally available via the APNIC Whois Database. The database record will instead direct specific whois enquiries to the IR concerned.

In addition, it is mandatory to register an Incident Report Team (IRT) object for each allocation and assignment record in the APNIC Whois Database.

10.4.1 Updating registration details

IRs must update their registration records when any of the registration information changes. This is the responsibility of the IR concerned, but may be formally delegated to the end-user as a condition of the original assignment.

10.4.2 Registering contact persons

Administrative and technical contact persons must be registered.

The registered administrative contact ('admin-c') must be someone who is physically located at the site of the network, subject to the following exceptions:

  • For residential networks or users, the IR's technical contact may be registered as admin-c.
  • For networks in exceptional circumstances that make it impractical to maintain an on-site administrative contact, an off-site person may be registered as the admin-c

The technical contact ('tech-c') need not be physically located at the site of the network, but must be a person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the network.

10.5 Responsibility to maintain in-addr.arpa records

LIRs should maintain in-addr.arpa resource records for their customers' networks. If a network is not specifically associated with an LIR then the in-addra.arpa records should be maintained by either the appropriate NIR or APNIC.

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11. Assignments and exchanges

11.1 Small multihoming assignments

An organization is eligible to receive a portable assignment from APNIC if it:

  • is currently multihomed with provider-based addresses, or demonstrates a plan to multihome within one month; and
  • agrees to renumber out of previously assigned address space.

An organization is considered to be multihomed if its network receives full-time connectivity from more than one ISP and has one or more routing prefixes announced by at least two of its ISPs.

Organizations requesting a portable assignment under these terms must demonstrate that they are able to use 25 percent of the requested assignment immediately and 50 percent within one year.

There is no minimum assignment size for portable assignments made under these terms.

11.2 Internet Exchange Points

Internet Exchange Points are eligible to receive a portable assignment from APNIC to be used exclusively to connect the IXP participant devices to the Exchange Point.

The minimum assignment made under these terms is /24.

Global routability of the portable assignment is left to the discretion of the IXP and its participants.

11.3 Critical infrastructure

The following critical infrastructure networks, if operating in the Asia Pacific region, are eligible to receive a portable assignment:

  • root domain name system (DNS) server;
  • global top level domain (gTLD) nameservers;
  • country code TLD (ccTLDs) nameservers;
  • IANA;
  • Regional Internet Registry (RIRs); and
  • National Internet Registry (NIRs).

Assignments to critical infrastructure are available only to the actual operators of the network infrastructure performing such functions. Registrar organizations which do not actually host the network housing the registry infrastructure, will not be eligible for an assignment under this policy.

The minimum assignment made under these terms is /24.

Exchanges made under this policy remain subject to the address space license policy.

12. Closure of LIRs

If an LIR holding APNIC address space ceases to provide Internet connectivity services, all of its address space must be returned to APNIC. It is the responsibility of the LIR (or any liquidator or administrator appointed to wind up the member's business) to advise all of its customers that address space will be returned to APNIC, and that renumbering into new address space will be necessary.

In the case that a new LIR takes over the business or infrastructure of the closed LIR, the existing address space may be transferred to the new LIR, however such a transfer is subject to reexamination by APNIC and may be treated as a new address request process.

For more on the transfer of resources, see APNIC transfer, merger, acquisition and takeover policy at http://www.apnic.net/policy/transfer-policy.

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13. Request evaluation guidelines

This document does not provide specific details of request evaluation by APNIC, or of expectations relating to specific technologies. Such details are dependent on technological advances, and may change frequently. Therefore APNIC will publish separate guidelines documents relating to specific technologies or techniques as required.

Such guidelines may contain any of the following:

  • descriptions of evaluation procedures to be used for certain types of address space requests
  • summaries of the best current practices that organizations requesting address space will generally be expected to implement in their network plans; and
  • other information that may assist organizations to request address space.