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Policy Block 1: ARIN-2024-5: Rewrite of NRPM Section 4.4 Micro-Allocation#

ARIN 56 Public Policy and Members Meeting digest Program Adjacent pick 30–31 October 2025

Abstract Slides Recording

Chris Woodfield, ARIN Advisory Council

Play the recording: Policy Block 1: ARIN-2024-5: Rewrite of NRPM Section 4.4 Micro-Allocation

  • Why: This is the one policy text change with direct fabric-adjacent consequences: it rewrites the rules for the dedicated pool IXPs and core DNS operators draw IPv4 from, and it resolves the long-standing ambiguity about whether IXP space may be routed.
  • What: A Recommended Draft (closest to adoption of anything on the docket) renaming Section 4.4 from "Micro-Allocation" to "Critical Internet Infrastructure (CII)" allocations. Key terms: a /15-equivalent reserved for CII; allocations no smaller than /24, sparse where practical; IXPs must justify with at least three initial participants not under common control on a shared physical switching fabric (with ASNs and contacts named; the IXP's own ASNs don't count); IXP space may be publicly announced at the operator's discretion but must be used only for IXP operations; gTLD operators capped at a /23-equivalent per gTLD from the free pool or transfers, not the reservation; 24-month supply requests; renumber-and-return within 12 months when expanding; ARIN publishes a record of all 4.4 allocations.
  • How: Policy text with an implementable-as-written staff review, ~3-month implementation, and a full community-feedback trail (including pushback that "CII" is an arbitrary definition and on gTLD treatment).
  • Where applicable: IXP operators and root/ccTLD/gTLD operators in the ARIN region; indirectly relevant to anyone engineering IX fabrics or peering policy, since it shapes what appears (and routes) on exchange fabrics.