IPv4 Markets

Caribbean Candidates Vie for Posts in ARIN Elections

Three Caribbean candidates -- Peter Harrison, Kerrie-Ann Richards and Alicia Trotman -- have been named among the final candidates to contest elections for leadership roles at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) in October. ARIN is one of five Internet registries worldwide that coordinate the distribution and administration of number resources. The registry serves the United States, Canada and several territories in the Caribbean. more

Names, Numbers and Beyond…

Couple of weeks ago I started a new initiative called "Names, Numbers and Beyond". I started this as I genuinely think we are facing big issues due to the uncontrolled and non-standard growth of the IP and Name space used today and tomorrow. To keep in control and make everything manageable, parcelling out IP address space and the use of tight naming standards/policies is necessary to make networks work better and make them achievable. more

RIPE NCC Members Secure their Resources Using Certification

Resource certification verifies that an Internet number resource (IP address space or autnonomous system number) has legitimately been allocated by a Regional Internet Registry. It will also benefit every network operator and Internet user in the world by helping to ensure long-term routing stability. more

CIDR in Networking: Improved IP Routing Efficiency

CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) is a routing system in which network engineers can distribute IP addresses based on the size of their specific network. This is more efficient than the previous system, which assigned IP addresses depending on whether the size of a network fits into one of only three sizes: Class A, Class B, and Class C. more

Data Quality in the RIPE NCC Service Region

In an earlier article on CircleID, Registry Data Quality Assessment, we discussed the importance of high quality and accurate IP registry data. At that time, we focused mainly on the accuracy of legacy address space: IP addresses that were given out prior to the existence of the RIPE NCC and that are not part of the current registry system. In this article, we want to present the efforts to keep the address space that is the responsibility of the RIPE NCC up to date and well maintained. more

Take IP Address Management Seriously; Your Business Depends on It

Let's start by stating the obvious: All business communications depend on IP addresses. Without an IP address, you simply can't communicate over the network. No IP address means no access to your email server, no access to your website, and no cell phone or VoIP access. So much for the new VoIP system installed last month. What does that mean to you? more

Looking Back on 2012: What’s in our Rearview Mirror?

Well, 2012 is almost over, and we can now reflect on the major events that hit our industry this year. If I had to choose the top three trends from the past 12 months, they would have to be: 1. Over-the-top (OTT) services; 2. IPv6 deployments (finally!); 3. TR-069 adoption. Let's examine each of these in more detail. more

Update on Assigning 32-bit ASNs

As mentioned in Assigning 32-bit ASNs published one year ago, 16-bit Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) are becoming a scarce resource just like 32-bit IP addresses. In 2007, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) addressed this scarcity by developing a new format: 32-bit AS Numbers (RFC 4893), which increased the supply of ASNs to four billion. more

The IPv4 Market in 2021

Price was the story of the 2021 IPv4 market. Large and small organizations alike continue to invest in their IPv4 infrastructure causing demand for IPv4 address space to intensify. Meanwhile, supply remains constrained. These market factors drove prices up at a historic rate in 2021. more

What is Bring Your Own IP (BYOIP)?

An IPv4 address identifies your connection to the online world. IP addresses make it possible to host websites, manage secure communication, and engage in countless other essential, internet-related activities. Typically, when migrating to a new cloud provider, a business has only one path: lease the provider's IP addresses. But what if a business already has a block of IP addresses? more

Correlation Between Country Governance Regimes & Reputation of Their Internet Address Allocations

We recently analyzed the reputation of a country's Internet (IPv4) addresses by examining the number of blacklisted IPv4 addresses that geolocate to a given country. We compared this indicator with two qualitative measures of each country's governance. We hypothesized that countries with more transparent, democratic governmental institutions would harbor a smaller fraction of misbehaving (blacklisted) hosts. The available data confirms this hypothesis. A similar correlation exists between perceived corruption and fraction of blacklisted IP addresses. more

The 2023 IPv4 Market in North America

In 2021, the story was price. In 2022, the story was price and large block supply. The story in 2023 is decline -- but with a notable caveat. Spurred by unprecedented unit pricing, the North American IPv4 market in 2022 experienced its second-best year in terms of overall traded volume, and in both 2022 and in 2023, large block market activity was as robust as ever, with sellers trading large blocks at over $50 per number. more

The Promise of Connectivity at CES Means Nothing Without IPv6

For a few years now, we have been promised a bright future where connected devices all communicate with each other on the Internet of Things. If this year's CES was any indication, the consumer technology industry is just about ready to deliver on that promise with a flood of new devices and products that will transform the way we interact with technology on a fundamental level. more

What Happened to IPv5, IPv7, IPv8 and IPv9?

The IPv4 market has created serious interest in the protocol far beyond the natural confines of networking professionals. These assets are worth a lot. Marketplaces, IPv4.Global's especially, have grown to be large centers of asset transfer by buyers and sellers of IPv4 addresses. IPv4.Global has helped transfer over $1 billion in IPv4 blocks. more

Are Big Tech CFOs (Inadvertently) Stealing From Shareholders?

When valuing a stock, analysts and shareholders evaluate always revenue and profit. Big tech COFs are sitting on assets worth tens of millions of dollars of annual profit (not just revenue, but true profit) in the form of unallocated IPv4 addresses. By not selling or leasing these out, they are incurring expenses to hold them and missing out on tremendous profits. At a 20X multiple (for context, Cisco is trading at nearly 18X earnings, Google at just over 33X earnings, Shopify at well over 700X earnings), big tech CFOs are actively preventing over $250 billion in market capitalization for their shareholders. more