LACNIC's IPv4 Address Pool Now Down to a /9

LACNIC's IPv4 address pool is now down to 8,388,606 addresses, which is equivalent to a /9. This fact triggers a new phase of the IPv4 exhaustion plan designed by LACNIC for Latin America and the Caribbean based on the policies approved by the regional community. This phase, which will extend from the moment when there are 8,388,606 available IPv4 addresses until only 4,194,302 remain, or, in other words, while LACNIC's pool of available IPv4 resources goes from a /9 to a /10, is referred to as Phase 1. From now on, the application analysis and evaluation process will become increasingly strict.

For more information, please see http://www.lacnic.net/web/lacnic/agotamiento-ipv4

As of this moment, there are only about 4 million addresses available before reaching exhaustion Phase 2, when the rules and procedures for the assignment of the remaining addresses will be extremely restrictive in terms of assignment size and frequency.

The fact that LACNIC is now down to 8.3 million IPv4 addresses also triggers a global policy that states that the IANA must make a first round of assignments from the small pool of IPv4 addresses it was returned. This space must be distributed equally among the five Regional Internet Registries. Under LACNIC policies, these addresses will be added to the pool for new entrants which will become active when LACNIC enters Phase 2 of its IPv4 Exhaustion Plan.

The need to deploy IPv6 is now more pressing than ever. It cannot be delayed any longer if connectivity providers still wish to comply with the demands of their customers and those of new users. The Internet continues to grow in leaps and bounds, and an increasing number of business opportunities continue to emerge. It is estimated that next year our region will have tens of millions of new Internet users. To meet the demand for the years to come, it is essential that every access network and content service in our region deploys IPv6.