[146627] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: economic value of low AS numbers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Owen DeLong)
Thu Nov 17 12:35:55 2011
From: Owen DeLong <owen@delong.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAMbSiYApG_e7SDiCdgL+RkY38nXExj+zt0No0a1AsU+yDkAZKg@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:32:07 -0800
To: davehart_gmail_exchange_tee@davehart.net
Cc: NANOG <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
On Nov 17, 2011, at 6:53 AM, Dave Hart wrote:
> AS path geeks:
>
> At the risk of invoking ire and eliciting comparisons to the
> widely-reviled and growing practice of selling IPv4 addresses, I'm
> wondering if anyone has sold legacy AS numbers for quick cash.
>
> For example, NASA has AS23 among others, and does not use 23. Could
> they help fund a Mars mission study or two by offering it to the
> highest bidder? Or would they be lucky to top the $500 ARIN charges
> for a 32-bit ASN?
ARIN also charges $500 for 16 bit ASNs and still has those available.
> I recognize there's no practical shortage of AS numbers. BGP's
> preference for low AS numbers doesn't come into play much. On the
> other hand, a low AS number can't hurt at the human level when
> negotiating peering or attracting customers.
>
ARIN policy does not currently support the transfer of AS numbers in
this manner. IMHO, it shouldn't, but, there is a policy proposal to
do so. I suggest that anyone interested in this subject review the
proposal and join the discussion on arin-ppml.
Owen
(Speaking only for myself and not on behalf of the ARIN AC)
