So, it’s the end of another year and time to have a look at where we are with IPv4 address exhaustion as of now.

As of the time of writing, four out of the five Regional Internet Registries have declared official exhaustion status, however the address allocation policies differ between the RIRs so in some cases it is still possible to get IPv4 addresses from them in certain circumstances.  For example, RIPE will still allocate a small amount (/22) to new Local Internet Registries.  ARIN however had a policy of ‘once it’s gone it’s gone’ and they really have run out.  There are still hundreds of applicants on the waiting list and the chances of getting the allocations they want now are pretty slim.

If you look at Geoff Huston’s page on this subject, the graph shows that as of the end of 2017, ARIN excepted, the amounts remaining on each registry are going down at a similar rate.  The only RIR left with any significant quantity of v4 addresses left are AfriNIC and it’ll be interesting to see what happens to the graph in 2018 as far as they are concerned, especially if lots of fraudulent shell companies try to apply for space they’re not entitled to.

In terms of major UK ISPs, BT/EE and Sky are fully rolled out now subject to the customer having CPE that supports it.  VM and TT and Vodafone appear to be silent on the subject, and the only major mobile network that has it is EE.

Perhaps by this time next year the IPv4 report will just say “all gone” – let’s see if that turns out to be the case.