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Guidelines - Initial IPv6 Allocation from ARIN

This is an overview of how to request and manage an initial allocation of IPv6 address space from ARIN.

Obtaining an Initial Allocation of IPv6 Address Space from ARIN

Whereas IPv4 uses a binary system of four octets representing 32 bits, IPv6 uses eight 16-bit hexadecimal values to represent 128 bits. To read more about this address representation scheme, please review RFC 3513.

In allocating IPv6 address space, ARIN considers the goal of aggregation to be the most important.

Step 1 - Requirements

Review ARIN's IPv6 policies to ensure your organization’s request meets initial IPv6 allocation requirements. Requesting resources from ARIN indicates you have read and agree to abide by these policies.

To request an IPv6 allocation from ARIN, your organization must first have established Point of Contact (POC) handles and an Organization Identifier (Org ID) with ARIN. Additional information about creating and managing POCs and Org IDs is available in ARIN's Guidelines for Managing Organization and Contact Identifiers.

Once your POCs and Org ID are registered, complete and submit the IPv6 Network Request template. All initial IPv6 allocation requests must be sent from the Admin or Tech POC associated with your Org ID.

Step 2 - Completing the Template

Your organization must establish justification for the request.

When an existing IPv4 service provider submits a request to transition its existing services to IPv6, the number of current IPv4 customers may be used to justify a larger allocation than would be justified if based solely on the provider's IPv6 infrastructure.

Justification can be made by meeting at least one of the following requirements.

General IPv6 Allocation:

The minimum allocation size for IPv6 address space is a /32. IPv6 address space is issued based on current need. To qualify for an initial allocation of IPv6 address space, your organization must meet the following requirements:

  • be an LIR / ISP;
  • plan to provide IPv6 connectivity to organizations to which it will assign IPv6 address space, by advertising that connectivity through its single aggregated address allocation;
  • be an existing, known ISP in the ARIN region or have a plan for making at least 200 end-site assignments to other organizations within five years

Micro-allocations:

Guidelines for Micro-allocations outline how organizations can qualify for and request micro-allocations.

Instructions for completing and submitting the template are provided at the bottom of the document. To ensure prompt and accurate processing of your IPv6 Network Request Template, please follow these instructions exactly. Any errors found may result in the template being returned for correction.

Step 3 - Submittal of Template and Auto Response

Upon successfully submitting the template, ARIN verifies its receipt of the request and issues a ticket number via e-mail to the individual who submitted the request. Based on the volume of requests, this may take up to 60 minutes.

Step 4 - Review Process

ARIN reviews and responds to a resource request within three (3) business days.

The response may include a request for additional information. For each question and response cycle, ARIN responds within three (3) business days. If ARIN does not receive a response within ninety (90) days, the ticket is considered closed and the request must be resubmitted. A response from ARIN requesting additional documentation or information does not imply a request will be denied; it simply means that additional information is needed to evaluate the request.

For questions about requests, communicate via e-mail to hostmaster@arin.net or call ARIN's Registration Services Help Desk at +1.703.227.0660. When contacting the Help Desk, have appropriate ticket numbers and other request documentation readily available, and have access to the ARIN website. In follow-up communication, supply the name of the ARIN Help Desk Resource Analyst that provided previous assistance. Click here for additional guidance on calling the Help Desk.

Step 5 - Request Approval

ARIN notifies your organization, via e-mail to the individual who submitted the request, whether the request was approved or not. The approval is good for ninety (90) days. If your organization does not follow up on the approval within that time, you must resubmit the request.

If a request is rejected and you feel that it has the proper justification for receiving the requested resource, you may contact ARIN to further explain its position.

Step 6- Fee Payment and Registration Services Agreement

Note: At its meeting on 22 July 2007, the ARIN Board of Trustees approved a waiver of the IPv6 annual renewal fees due in each calendar year by a set percentage, regardless of the date of initial registration, according to the following table:

Declining Fee Waiver Schedule for IPv6 Allocations
  Percentage of Fee Waived Per Year
  2008
 2009
 2010
2011 2012
Amount Waived 90% 75% 50% 25% 0%

 

In accordance with the current IPv6 fee waiver, the fee information below is only applicable to organizations that receive approval for an IPv6 allocation and do not have an IPv4 allocation from ARIN. Organizations will be notified upon ARIN's receipt of a request for IPv6 space whether they qualify for the current IPv6 fee waiver.

As outlined in the Fee Schedule, ARIN charges an annual subscription fee for registration services based on the total amount of address space allocated. Subscription fees cover the cost of maintaining allocation information.

IPv6 registration fees are not differentiated between ISPs and end-users, as with IPv4 registration fees. Also, IPv6 fees are separate from any other fees being paid to ARIN.

Organizations receiving an IPv6 allocation for the first time are charged a fee based on the size of the initial allocation. Thereafter, an annual subscription fee for registered space is due by the anniversary date of the organization's first allocation from ARIN. If not paid by the anniversary date, the address space may be revoked.

After receiving approval confirmation and a ticket number from ARIN, complete and submit an IPv6 Initial Allocation Billing Form. Additional fee and payment information is available in the Billing section.

ARIN does not accept purchase orders as the equivalent of payment and payment information is not accepted by phone. The approval of a request can be dependent on the billing status of the Org ID in question. Outstanding fees due to ARIN must be paid before additional resources are allocated.

Submission of Signed Registration Services Agreement (RSA)

All applicants requesting resources from ARIN are required to sign the Registration Services Agreement (RSA). The RSA must be signed and returned before ARIN allocates resources. The RSA cannot be altered or modified. If the organization already has a signed RSA on file with ARIN, a new one is not needed unless the request for resources will be issued under a new Org ID. Organizations may fax a signed, but otherwise unaltered, RSA to +1.703.227.0671. ARIN requests that the organization also forward two (2) signed originals via postal mail to:

ARIN
Attention: Financial Services Department
3635 Concorde Parkway, Suite 200
Chantilly, VA 20151

Submission of Payment

When completing ARIN's online billing forms, organizations may choose between two payment options:

Immediate online payment by credit card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa)

If payment is by credit card, an automatic receipt is e-mailed to the organization, along with instructions on how to download the Registration Services Agreement (RSA).

Receive an invoice for payment by check or wire transfer

For organizations choosing to receive an invoice, ARIN sends an invoice within three (3) business days and instruction on how to download the Registration Services Agreement (RSA). For instructions to send payment by wire transfer, call +1.703.227.9886 or e-mail billing@arin.net.  For wire instructions by e-mail, include the ARIN ticket or invoice number, the organization name, and Org ID. For payments by check, send payment to:

American Registry for Internet Numbers
P. O. Box 79010
Baltimore, Maryland  21279-0010

Step 7 - Allocation

ARIN completes the allocation of the IPv6 address block to the organization within two (2) business days of ARIN's receipt of the registration fee and a signed RSA form.

Organizations that receive a direct allocation of IP address space from ARIN are automatically accorded membership for as long as they continue to pay any fees related to their allocation. This membership is associated only with the Org ID holding the allocation.

It is not necessary to become a member of ARIN prior to applying for IP address space, nor will doing so make it easier to obtain IP addresses. Members and nonmembers alike must meet policy requirements and justify their allocation requests based on utilization criteria.

Automatic membership based on a direct allocation of IP address space from ARIN is terminated when the address space is transferred to another entity, returned to ARIN, or revoked due to nonpayment. On the day the transfer process is complete, membership and the accompanying voting rights are transferred to the entity acquiring the address space.

Each ARIN member is asked to name a designated member representative (DMR). This is the only person eligible to vote in ARIN online elections (Bylaws, Article III, Section 3.b.). Requirements for the DMR can be found on the Membership page.

Managing IPv6 Allocation Records

Organization and Contact Identifiers

To ensure efficient and accurate processing, promptly update Org ID and POC records after any change. Additional information about Org IDs and POCs is available in ARIN's Guidelines for Managing Organization and Contact Identifiers.

Managing Reverse Lookup Zones

Per the IPv6 Reverse Lookup section of the NRPM, each organization should properly manage its reverse lookup zone. When an organization allocates IPv6 address space to another organization, it also delegates the responsibility for management of the reverse lookup zone for the delegated IPv6 address space.

When an organization assigns IPv6 address space, it must, upon request, delegate the reverse lookup zone management for the assigned address space to the downstream organization.

Making and Reporting Reassignments

As outlined in ARIN's IPv6 Policy, IPv6 assignments by organizations that have received allocations from ARIN are to be made in accordance with the following provisions:

  • Assignment address space size
    • /64 when it is known that one and only one subnet is needed
    • /56 for small sites, those expected to need only a few subnets over the next 5 years
    • /48 for larger sites
  • Assignment of multiple /48s to a single end site
    • Single end sites requiring an additional /48 address block must request the assignment with documentation or materials that justify the request.
    • ARIN processes and reviews the justification for requests for multiple or additional /48s.
  • Assignment to operator's infrastructure
  • An organization that receives an IPv6 allocation from ARIN may assign a /48 per PoP as the service infrastructure of an IPv6 service operator. Separate assignments can be obtained for the in-house operations of the operator.

ARIN is not concerned about which address size an ISP actually assigns. ARIN will not request the detailed information on IPv6 user networks as it does for IPv4. However, as utilization of current IPv4 address space can be considered in making IPv6 allocations, efficient utilization of an organization's IPv4 space is still required. Also, as defined in policy, an organization must meet the utilization requirement of a 0.94 HD-Ratio for its IPv6 address space in order to receive additional space.

All /56 or larger assignments to end sites must be registered either by the organization making the assignment or the downstream organization receiving the assignment. This registration must be done in such a way that the RIR/NIR can properly evaluate the HD-Ratio when a subsequent allocation becomes necessary. Guidelines for the Reporting of Reassignment Information outlines requirements and procedures organizations must follow in reporting reassignment information to ARIN.

Modifying or Returning an IPv6 Allocation

There are two types of changes that can be made to an IPv6 allocation record.

Modification

The IPv6 Network Modification (IPv6-NET-Mod) template can be used to change the POC handle associated with a resource allocation or to modify a network name. Modifications are submitted by the Administrative or Technical POC for the appropriate Org ID, or the Technical POC for the resource.

To change POCs associated with a resource allocation, the POCs must already exist. If the POCs are not currently registered in the ARIN database, submit a POC template prior to submitting the NET-Mod template.

Return

The IPv6 Network Modification template can also be used to return unused allocations to ARIN. Returns of an allocation can only be submitted by the Administrative POC.

Transfers of IPv6 Allocations

Transfers of IPv6 allocations are handled similarly to the transfer of any ARIN resource. Specific guidelines for this process are provided in ARIN's Guidelines for Transferring Internet Protocol (IP) Address Space & ASNs.