RIPE NCC Makes Increased Number of IPv6 Allocations

News | Amsterdam, March 2007

The months of October and November 2007 saw an increase in the number of IPv6 allocations made in a single month by the RIPE NCC. There were 24 allocations made to RIPE NCC members in October, a record immediately broken by the 31 allocations made in November. The previous peak was 19 allocations in a single month, which was achieved on three separate occasions in 2003, 2004 and 2007.

This surge in demand for IPv6 address space follows recent changes in the IPv6 allocation policy, which made it easier to get IPv6 allocations. The increase also comes in the wake of the publication of the RIPE Community Resolution on IPv4 Depletion and Deploymentof IPv6. This statement, released immediately after the RIPE 55 meeting in Amsterdam in October, urged all Internet industry stakeholders, including ISPs, governments and regulators, to take steps to foster the accelerating deployment of IPv6.

The text of this resolution can be found at: www.ripe.net/news/community-statement.html

The graph below shows the number of IPv6 allocations made by the RIPE NCC per year. Although the RIPE NCC began allocating IPv6 address space in 1999, the allocation rate did not start to take off until 2003. Since then, the RIPE NCC has allocated IPv6 address space at an average rate of about 10 allocations per month. The increased rate of IPv6 allocation seen at the end of 2007 continued into 2008, with 26 and 34 allocations in January and February 2008 respectively.

"We hope to see the number of IPv6 allocations continue to increase." said Paul Rendek, Head of External Relations and Communications, RIPE NCC. "I would urge service providers and governments to heed the advice of the RIPE community and its statement on the importance of widespread IPv6 deployment."