[address-policy-wg] ISPs selling IP address space

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elmar K. Bins" <elmi at 4ever.de>

>> Let's assume an organization would qualify for e.g., /25 address
>> allocation.  When obtaining Internet connectivity, the ISP gives two
>> offers, for example:
>>  - 100 EUR/mo for a /27
>>  - 200 EUR/mo for a /25
>> (otherwise the terms are same, and the technical implementation is
>> the same.)
>
> If the organization qualifies for a /25, an audit will only result
> in "everything's been done properly, the applications are in order",
> provided the ISP documents their assignments correctly.
>
>>                 2) Charging Policies
>>                      A Local IR must publish its charging policy.
>>                      The policy is defined in ripe-152 [Norris96a]:
>>                      "Address space is a finite resource with no
>>                      intrinsic value and direct costs cannot be
>>                      ascribed to it. While they may not charge for
>>                      address space as such, registries may charge
>>                      for their administrative and technical ser-
>>                      vices. Registries must publish their operating
>>                      procedures and details of the services they
>>                      offer and the conditions and terms that apply,
>>                      including scales of tariffs if applicable."
>

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/charging2004.html
As clearly stated in the above URL, RIPEs charging scheme is almost solely 
based on how many ip addresses you require and it should be fairly easy to 
calculate the direct cost of a /25 allocation vs a /27. It might not cost 
that much in RIPE fees for a /25 or /27, but I don't see why an ISP 
shouldn't be able to charge their customers using the same scheme if they 
wanted to (and of course also add administrative fees etc).

Joergen Hovland