AfriNIC-8: Minutes Report

The meeting was opened by the Chairman of EMI (Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs) Prof. Driss Bouami. He welcomed everyone and hoped that their stay in Morocco has been a pleasant one and that the work at the EMI was agreeable and useful. He said that IT concerns all sectors of the economy and went on to stress its importance in our development. He said that it is one of AfriNIC’s missions to train and to inform of the latest development and in this context the work achieved by AfriNIC has been remarkable at all levels. He wished all much success in the work to be undertaken and thanked everyone for their attention.

09.00- 09.15 Welcome Address by Adiel Akplogan

Adiel Akplogan, CEO of AfriNIC, welcomed all participants and thanked the hosts for the hospitality and for all the hard work that had gone into the preparation and during the sessions already held. He expressed hope that all stakeholders would benefit from this meeting.

Adiel presented the overview of the agenda for the next two days. He proceeded in giving an overview of AfriNIC’s activities, registration data, and membership information. He went on to introduce all AfriNIC staff who were present at the meeting.

To view his presentation, click here.

09.15-09.45 AfriNIC activities update by Adiel Akplogan

Adiel took a brief look at 2008 in terms of the current budget, staff evolution, and membership levels, compared to 2007. He also added that five policies were ratified and implemented in 2007. He briefly explained AfriNIC’s financial indicators and the challenges ahead, most specifically with fee collection and exchange rates exposure. He also stated that total reserves have increased.

Adiel also touched on AfriNIC’s training activities, the progress made so far and the plan to cover the whole continent by the end of 2009. He gave a brief on resources allocated and membership growth since 2005. He presented data and updates on IPv4 and IPv6 distribution by country and stressed that there is a need for more training in order to increase utilization.

Adiel advised that AfriNIC has joined the 6Deploy consortium to support the deployment of IPv6 in Europe and developing countries. A first event will be held in Kenya during AfriNIC’s training session. He went on to explain how joining this initiative would raise awareness among policy makers, facilitate training in 2008/09 and build an e-learning platform easily accessible by the community.

Adiel gave details of the policies that were adopted and implemented in 7/2008. He also gave a brief on the successful launch of MyAfriNIC in October 2007; a web-based portal that allows members to better manage their accounts with services such as online bill pay, view history of payments, update profiles, manage AS numbers, IPv4 and IPv6 resources, and to create and track technical support issues.
He also outlined the various marketing and awareness campaigns through our website, the AfriNIC News, and member surveys. All these activities are aimed at better serving the community. AfriNIC organized a booth at the ITU exhibition in Cairo in May.
In line with its mission, AfriNIC continues to support other sister organisations in the region, such as AfTLD, AAU, Afrispa, and AfNOG.

Adiel gave a review of the way forward which started with a Board Retreat in the last quarter of 2007 to revisit AfriNIC’s strategy, discussion about the organisation structure and realignment of our Mission, Vision and Core Values. Adiel presented the new AfriNIC organisational structure and appointments to fill the new positions.

To view his presentation, click here.

09.45-10.15 Board Updates by Viv Padayatchy (on behalf of P Dandjinou)

Viv gave a brief update of the Board’s activities starting with the meetings held in 2007 and the elected members in 2007. He also appraised the meeting with the various committees and presented the members of these committees. He listed the 10 resolutions that passed through the Board, from policy ratification to budget adoption. He indicated that two seats are due to become vacant in June 2008 and that part of the agenda the following day would be the election of new Board members. He presented the list of Board members that represented AfriNIC at various International meetings.

Open Mic: Boubakar Barry, representing the Assocation of African Universities (AAU), thanked the CEO and AfriNIC Board for the work that is being done especially to promote IP at University level.

10.45-11.00 RIPE NCC Inofrmation Services by Mark Dranse

Mark Dranse, from RIPE NCC made a presentation on the RIPE NCC tools for network operators. The main focus was on Test Traffic Measurements (TTM) and Routing Information Services (RIS). It was underlined that Africa was the only continent where TTM was not deployed. Main highlights were features and benefits of the TTM, RIS and MyASN Alarms. There was a question about what was needed from an Exchange point or an ISP to site a TTM box there. Mark informed that the TTM service is chargeable – for hardware and ongoing service costs to cover the support from RIPE NCC. Another question raised was about whether the services are V6 friendly. Mark Dranse mentioned that all of the services are v6 friendly with the exception of MyASN.

To view his presentation, click here.

11.00-11.15 Internet Number Resources Statistics by Ernest Byaruhanga

Ernest made a remote presentation on the Internet Number Resource Status report as of 31st March 2008. Main topics included:

IPv4 allocations –RIRs to LIRs/ISPs;
ASN Assignment –RIRs to LIRs/ISPs;
IANA IPv6 Allocations to RIRs; and,
IPv6 Allocations RIRs to LIRs/ISPs.

To view his presentation, click here.

11:15 - 11:30 IANA Report & IPv4 central pool update by Leo Vegoda

Leo presentation pertained to information on IPv4 Address Space registry, ongoing research and IETF and DNS activities. Main topics included:

IPv4 Address Space Registry and move to XML publishing;
Ongoing Research;
IETF update;
DNS work: IPv6, Reverse DNS delegation DNSSEC update;
ICANN in Paris; and,
New IANA website to be launched very soon. It has been updated in corporation with the NRO and will provide subscription services.
To view his presentation, click here.

11:30-12:15 Presentation of New PDP & PD- MG by Vincent Ngundi

Vincent made a presentation about the AfriNIC new PDP and PDP-MG and terms of Reference in the new PDP. Main highlights included:

Recap on the new PDP;
PDP-MG: functions; and,
PDP-MG: Elections Procedure.

12:15 - 12:30 APNIC update by Paul Wilson

Paul from APNIC, presented a report on the activities of the APNIC community and staff. His presentation included the following highlights:
New staff organisational structure and statistics;
Response to 2007 member survey – activities and budget;
Impact of the USD exchange rate on APNIC fees, and the new fee structure;
APNIC resource services and IPv6 activities;
APNIC 25 policy outcomes; and,
Meeting information for APNIC 26-29.

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Common policy for LIRs on the allocation of IP addresses.
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One member from the floor asked if there was a policy to govern allocation of IP address by LIR to companies. Adiel Akplogan informed that AfriNIC does not have a policy in that regards and invited LIR members from floor to give their views. After discussion, the following was proposed:

It would be good for LIR members to get together and define such a policy for the efficient and fair allocation of IP addresses. Those procedures should be in line with the AfriNIC procedures since LIR members have to apply the same stewardship as AfriNIC.
LIR members could consider publishing their own procedures for more transparency in that respect.
Companies should be sensitized to ensure that they are aware about how to get their Internet Number resources. There is a need to emphasis on users making their requests directly to AfriNIC.
The community should contribute more active in the discussions. Members should consider comparing the facilities and procedures of the different upstream providers to ensure that they have the best service. (It was noted that this might not apply in countries where there is a monopoly on the services provided).
Members can use AfriNIC weekly statistical report to ensure that their IP addresses are announced by the upstream providers.

Incentives for IPv6 requests
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The Chair read out a question from the jabber room whereby it was asked for what needs to be done in situations where major LIRs have not received IP space or do not have any available or have no existing IPv6 space (eg, if they cannot support IPv6 costs). Adiel Akplogan mentioned that-if the ISP is a legacy holder, it will have to become a member to request for IPv6 space. Last year, the AfriNIC Board of Directors approved a new fee schedule (eg, the first year fees is waived) to support requests from legacy space holders. They will also have incentives to recover the costs over 6 years.

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14.00-15.30 IPv6 Presentations

IPv6 Presentation – Deploying IPv6 an an IPv4 world by Randy Bush

Randy Bush gave a presentation on the deployment of IPv6. He started by sharing the Internet Initiative Japan with various examples. He briefed the meeting about the RPKI in some details. He gave details of the Level 9 war and how the RIRs feel and gave his reasons why he cares. He also spoke about BGP Routing security. He gave a synopsis of his reasoning.

Randy also talked about the IPv4 Free Pool Run-out. He gave a graphical view of where we are today and what should have happened as compared to what is actually happening.

To view his presentation, click here.

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IPv6 in converged Communication by John Loughney

John presented a chart showing the Global Mobile Internet Usage and Access. He stated that Mobile Communication is booming in Africa and went on to share some numbers and evolution since 2005. The African continent has surpassed North America in terms of mobile subscriber numbers. He pointed the impact of such growth on IP resources. He gave a brief on NAT “keeps alive messages” and NATs usage limitations. He talked about IPv6 Open Issues in Mobile Networks.

To view his presentation, click here.

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IPv6 usage recent statistics by Jordi Palet Martinez

Jordi started by explaining about 6meter: Measuring Real Global IPv6 Traffic and it application, the types of traffic. He went on to explain the Capturing of packets. He also provided monthly statistics of IPv6 vs IPv4.

To view his presentation, click here.

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IPv6 in .CO.ZA Registry by Mark Elkins

Mark set out the overview of what IPv6 for a registry entails and the issues surrounding existing infrastructures. He talked about the Critical Path of Registries, DNS Resolution and Policies.

To view his presentation, click here.

15.45-16.00 ARIN Update by Ray Plzak

The Chair of the session, Viv Padayatchy, invited Ray Plzak, President/CEO of ARIN, to come forward for his intervention. He accessed his presentation on the latest ARIN report being circulated to the audience. Ray covered the various topics covered in the report. He informed that ARIN conducted an IPv6 penetration survey in its region, results of which are available online on the ARIN IPv6 wiki. The report also included the ARIN XXI policy discussions taken place in Denver; the policies discussed as well as their status are indicated in the report. Ray informed that the ARIN policy development process has been documented since 2000. The report stated the latest revision brought to the ARIN PDP process. He also gave a review of several other topics covered in the report, namely the Project X Live Demo (ARIN new web interface) as well as the outreach activities. Ray finished his report by inviting the attendees to next ARIN XXII meeting to be held from 15-17 October in Los Angeles.

To view the report: click here

16.00-17.00 Policies Discussions

Policy proposal 1: Global Policy for the Allocation of the
Remaining IPv4 Address Space by Haitham El Nakhal (NTRA)

To view the Policy: click here

Introduction: Policy defines distribution last pieces of IPv4 address space to RIRs.
AfriNIC-7 discussed two proposals for same concept; one was for 2*/8 for each RIR
and another for one */8 for each RIR. N=2 for each RIR reached consensus but after ARIN meeting, ARIN advisory council advised to work with JPNIC on the same concept with N=1.

How does the new new policy proposal work?

IANA reserves one /8 for each RIR and set them out of its free pool. And IANA will keep applying the same policy until its free pool becomes empty or until the request of an RIR can’t be fulfilled with its remaining available pool.

Status in other RIR:
ARIN: consensus was reached during ARIN XXI and approved by ARIN AC.
RIPE: Discussed in mailing lists and will be discussed in next meeting.
LACNIC: Consensus was reached during last meeting.
APNIC: Under discussion in mailing list and will be discussed in APNIC-26.

Vincent Ngundi opened the floor for discussion by the community to see if consensus could be reached during the meeting..

Questions/Comments that were raised in relation to this policy came from:


• Randy Bush, the current chair of the APNIC policy working group, who asked for more explanation on the actual purpose of this policy and he emphasized on planning of the /8 by RIRs. He also commented that though N=1 is going to be hard to get through RIPE, so he suggested to compromise with N=1.


• Mouhamet Diop asked for a summary of the policy and a comment which was raised by Randy. Haitham gave a summary on the working principle of this policy and further elaborated by giving an example: If the free pool of IANA has one /8 and they get a request from an RIR for IPv4 and will allocate the last /8 to that RIR and at the same time will allocate a /8 to each RIR from the reserved pool.


• Mouhamet Diop was not in favour of this policy as he thought that Africa was disadvantaged in the past, and it is only now that mobile and broadband networks are expanding. In the past, people who were ready for deployment took the space when Africa was not ready.


• Randy Bush said that it needed to be a global policy. Given a choice N=1 or none, there was a need to choose one.


• Alan Barrett said that he supported what Randy said. Global policy meant that exactly the same wording passes in all regions before it takes effect. There was a need to either pick something which will pass in all regions or pass a complete new proposal.


• A Member of ARIN advisory council reported that discussions took place in ARIN’s mailing list. He agreed that it was a disadvantage for African community who was late deployers. Choice will be between N=1 or 2 as N=1 has already passed two other RIRs. So, we need to have same wording.


• Vincent Ngundi emphasised that it is important that consensus be reached during this meeting as it is currently N=0and we do not know what may happen between this and next meeting.


• Mouhamet Diop stated that the community needed to come to a compromise situation, with open possibility to share the way all think about managing the free pool. In his opinion, the best decision would be to adopt N=1.
• Mark Elkins stated that in Durban, the issue was also largely discussed about the options of N=2 or 3. If it is seen that other regions have adopted N=1, and the alternative is N=0, it should be pretty clear cut that the community should go for N=1 which is a lot better than none.


• Randy Bush said that he has been in Africa for 20 years because he cares about fairness. If we care of fairness, we will run out of IPv6 before this discussion finishes.


• Michuki Mwangi said he was of opinion that N=1 would be in favour of the community and that the proposal should be considered in a positive way.

Vincent concluded that, based on the discussions, it can be stated that consensus was reached. There would be no need to vote each and every time unless, the community had substantial objection.

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Policy proposal 2: Vincent presenting on behalf of Tony Hain-Cisco

To view the Policy: click here

This policy establishes the process for RIR-to-RIR redistribution of the tail-end of the IPv4 pool effective after the IANA Reserve is exhausted. Each redistribution allocation will be triggered by the recipient RIR depleting its reserve to a 30-day supply, and will result in up to a 3-month supply being transferred from the RIR with the longest remaining time before it exhausts its own pool There has been no support in AfriNIC RPD mailing list. Some notable comments on AfriNIC mailing list:

McTim: “Clearly, this proposal has downsides for our community. If we accept this, then the last /8(s) given to AfriNIC by the IANA will be shared by the other RIRs with higher burn rates.”
Randy: “one /8 per RIR at the end proposal seems useful, David Conrad's soft landing proposal seems reasonable but the real problem is the vendors”

Status on other RIRs:
ARIN : Rejected
APNIC : Rejected
RIPE : under discussion,
LACNIC: not discussed
AfriNIC: to be determined today.
Note: This policy cannot go through due to Global Policy Development Process as it has been rejected in at least one region.

Similar or related polices
Global Distribution of Remaining IANA IPv4 Address Space
David Conrad’s Soft Landing Proposal

Questions/Comments that were raised in relation to this policy came from:


• Alain Barrett asked if a representative from LACNIC could tell the audience about the policy proposal as he did not think the soft landing has been proposed in the AfriNIC region.


• Randy stated that the proposal should be rejected.


• Mohamed Diop saw the policy as a good opportunity for African organisations to get address space and collaborate.


• LACNIC member informed that the policy never went to mailing list and was not discussed during the last meeting.


• Alan Barrett addressed two questions; one to ARIN and the second one to AfriNIC. He wanted to know the current acceleration rate and the duration of a /8 for these two RIRs.


• Ray Plzak from ARIN replied that it was about: 3-4 months and Adiel Akplogan from AfriNIC: 2 and half years globally.


• Bill Woodcock said that this was entirely collaborative and would need good will from all RIRs.


• Alan Barrett said that he was against the proposal and suggested to let RIR deal with their last /8 without transferring too much between each RIR.


• Philip Smith said he would echo to what Alan said.


• Ray Plzak informed that the proposal was rejected in ARIN region as it was thought to be unfair.

Vincent Ngundi stated that following discussions, the policy received adverse opinions and is rejected in the AfriNIC region. He then proceeded in closing the session.

09.00-09.05 Welcome & Announcements: by Adiel Akplogan

Adiel opened the second plenary day by renewing his gratitude to all the local host, connectivity partners and sponsors. He also thanked the sponsor of the social event held the previous evening and which was enjoyed by all present. He then presented the agenda for the day, which would include presentations by various presenters, the Finance report followed by the Board Members election. He urged all members of good standing eligible for voting to collect their ballot papers from the Registration desk.

09.15-09.30 LACNIC update by Ernesto Majo

Ernesto Majo, Communications Manager, started his presentation by giving a brief on the background of LACNIC activities. He then proceeded with the membership evolution reflecting movements in various categories. He then explained how LACNIC staff complement has changed with time in parallel to their membership growth. He also presented how their operating budget has also been growing and shared his views on LACNIC vision statement.

He further explained the various cooperation and development oriented activities engaged by LACNIC including the FRIDA program. He then gave an overview of the various modalities of the program like partnerships, projects and funding. He presented the eLAC project, its goals and its achievements. He elaborated on goal 15 with regards to IPv6 promotion and actions. He further stated that LACNIC joined the 6Deploy initiative. With regards to IPv6 deployment, Ernesto laid down their approach and the way LACNIC is pursuing its effort to promote its usage. He gave a brief on the LACNIC XI meeting in Brazil which was attended by some 289 participants from 30 different countries and other related organizations. He also listed the policies discussed during the meeting. He finished off by presenting the various projects under way.

To view the presentation: click here

09.30-09.45 ASO- AC/NRO-NC Report – by Alan Barrett

Alan Barrett presented the ASO AC report. He started by giving a brief on the ASO-AC and explained that the membership consisted of 3 representatives from each RIR. He went on to give information about the website, the workings of its mailing list. He also shared with the audience the recent changes and the tasks ahead.

09.45-10.15 IGF Update – by Markus Kummer

Markus Kummer, the Executive Coordinator, Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) gave a brief of the IGF activities and explained that IGF was neither an organization nor a decision-making body and shared with the meeting the objectives of the IGF. Markus stated that one cross-cutting priority was the issue of development aiming at effective & meaningful participation by all countries in Internet governance and building capacity including technical & knowledge transfer, strengthening institutional frameworks at local & regional levels. He went on to say that all participants were engaged in a multi-stakeholder dialogue as equals. He pointed out that the main purpose of IGF meetings was to exchange ideas, sharing best practices and learning from one another. He described in details what IGF can offer and the impact that IGF can have on the community. He explained that although much of IGF discussions deal with international factors, national policies are equally important. Markus shared the fact that there is a growing interest in creating national and regional IGFs and list down some of the countries that have shown such interest.

He further said that IGF conducted two meetings so far and that the next meeting will be held in Asia. He stated that participation of such meeting can be by being part of a Dynamic Coalition - examples of such groups are “Stop Spam Alliance”, A2K@IGF, Dynamic Coalition on Child Online Safety etc. Meetings are held under five broad themes ie Access, Diversity, Security, Openness and Critical Internet resources. Markus stressed on the value of the IGF as a multi-stakeholder platform where people and organizations can come and discuss together issues of concern that affect the internet.

He then gave a brief on the Rio Meeting and in particular, on events organized by African stakeholders, AfriNIC, ISOC, AfTLD, AfNOG etc. He said that there was also a presentation from Kenya in the Best Practices Forum. He presented the Agenda for the forthcoming meeting in Asia and shared with the meeting ways to participate in various discussions.

Markus presentation was well received by all participants and from the floor. There was hope that his presence could become a regular feature in future meetings.

To view the presentation: click here