IPv4 Market Group Quoted by BBC on IPv4 Price Expectations

In its enlightening article on the ARIN IPv4 run out, the BBC has quoted IPv4 Market Group’s view on IPv4 price expectations. IPv4 Market Group is quoted as saying:

“The ARIN depletion might spark a significant rise in prices, suggests research by the IPv4 Market Group which acts as a broker for firms with addresses to sell.

The sale of several big blocks of addresses from very large companies including Merck, Lilly, Dupont and Nortel could spell problems for anyone looking to buy a significant number of addresses, it said. The lack of single big blocks would probably drive prices upwards as anyone requiring lots of addresses would have to get them from several sources, it said.”

The BBC goes on to discuss the British Government’s sale of IPv4 addresses, which is being supported by IPv4 Market Group in conjunction with Ernst and Young in the UK.

As discussed by the BBC, many companies, encouraged by the Regional Internet Registries, are converting their networks to IPv6, while others use carrier grade NAT (CGN).

The pace of conversion to date, however, suggests that there will be demand for IPv4 addresses for at least five more years. The question is whether there will be supply to meet that demand.