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We currently have around 1.91 million IPv4 addresses remaining in our available pool. We expect to reach the end of this pool in the next few months, before the end of 2019. Of course, the exact date is not possible to predict as this depends on the rate at which new members/additional LIR accounts are opened.
We have been preparing for this situation for a long time and all the necessary steps are being taken to ensure a smooth run-out. The community discussed the situation well in advance and reached consensus on a policy change that deals with how the RIPE NCC should make IPv4 allocations to members after run-out.
This all means that we will soon reach a point where members will activate their LIR accounts but find that they are not able to receive one of the /22 IPv4 allocations that we have provided since 2012. It is important to be clear that these members will have the same payment obligations as any other member and will not be eligible for a refund of their membership or sign-up fees in the event that they are not able to receive a /22 allocation.
However, they will be eligible to receive a smaller /24 allocation from address space that we recover in the future. These allocations will be made via a new waiting list that will become active after run-out. The time a member spends on the waiting list will depend on their place in the queue and the rate at which addresses come back to us.
To ensure our members remain informed, we have updated the IPv4 exhaustion information on our website.