IPv6 leasing gives an ISP a block of provider-aggregatable (PA) space from a RIPE NCC member's allocation, announced from the ISP's own ASN, without joining the RIPE NCC. Through us a /48 costs €40 per year and a /44 €80 per year (as of September 2026); membership costs €1,000 to join and €1,800 per year in 2026 under the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2026 (ripe-848). The trade-off is portability: leased PA space returns to the pool when the lease ends, while an IPv6 PI /48 stays registered to your organization if you change sponsoring LIR.
Understanding IPv6 for ISPs
Why ISPs Need IPv6
IPv4 scarcity and customer demand push ISPs to IPv6:
IPv4 Exhaustion Impact: The RIPE NCC gives each new member at most one IPv4 /24, through a waiting list of 791 LIRs on 25 September 2026 (the first in line had waited 485 days, RIPE NCC waiting list). An ISP with a growing customer base faces:
- New customers require IP addresses
- Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) provides temporary relief but creates problems
- Buying or leasing IPv4 addresses costs money for every subscriber (figures in the cost section below)
- Competition for scarce IPv4 resources intensifies
Customer Demand: The share of users reaching Google over IPv6 first passed 50% on 28 March 2026 and averaged 47.4% in the week of 14 to 20 September 2026 (Google IPv6 statistics). On 20 September 2026 it was 86.25% in France, 75.40% in Germany and 68.47% in India. On the customer side:
- Modern devices and operating systems default to IPv6 when available
- Enterprise customers need IPv6 for cloud connectivity
- IoT deployments benefit from IPv6's abundant address space
Network Quality: IPv6 can improve service quality:
- Eliminates CGNAT overhead and limitations
- Enables end-to-end connectivity
- Simplifies network architecture
For the planning side of the choice, read IPv4 vs IPv6: Planning Your IP Address Strategy.
Traditional IPv6 Acquisition Challenges
ISPs traditionally acquire IPv6 addresses through RIR membership and allocation processes:
RIR Membership Fees: In the RIPE region a new LIR pays a €1,000 sign-up fee and €1,800 per LIR account per year (ripe-848), plus €50 per ASN and €75 per independent assignment. From 2027 the annual fee is €1,894 with the first ASN included (ripe-867, adopted at the May 2026 General Meeting). The other four RIRs run their own fee schedules, compared in our RIR policies comparison.
Allocation Rules: An initial IPv6 allocation is a /32 up to /29 without further documentation, but the LIR must plan to make sub-allocations or End Site assignments within two years and register every assignment in the RIPE Database (ripe-738, sections 5.1 and 5.5).
Complexity for Smaller ISPs: For an ISP that needs a /48 or a /44 for its own infrastructure, membership means paying for an allocation many sizes larger than the need, every year.
IPv6 Leasing: An Alternative Approach
What is IPv6 Leasing?
IPv6 leasing gives you provider-aggregatable (PA) space: a block carved from a RIPE NCC member's own allocation, registered in the RIPE Database as an assignment to your organization under that member's allocation, and announced from your ASN. It returns to the pool if you end the lease.
The Model:
- Lessor (RIPE NCC member) holds an IPv6 allocation from the RIPE NCC
- ISP (lessee) leases a portion of this allocation
- Lessor maintains the RIPE NCC relationship and the registration
- ISP holds the block for as long as the yearly lease is paid
- ISP can announce leased blocks via BGP
What we lease: a /48 for €40 per year or a /44 for €80 per year; larger sizes on request. The price is a fixed yearly amount per block, whatever the utilization. An ASN is required to announce the block: one we sponsor, or one you already hold (you enter its number at order time).
How IPv6 Leasing Works for ISPs
- Pick the size: /48 or /44. The IPv6 subnet calculator shows how many /64s and /56s each one holds.
- Link an ASN: an ASN we already sponsor for you, or the number of an ASN you hold elsewhere.
- Pay: after payment the block is provisioned automatically. We create the inet6num object, then the route6 object and a ROA for your ASN; you can check the ROA with the RPKI checker.
- Collect the paperwork: the LOA your upstreams ask for is generated automatically and downloadable from the dashboard.
- Announce and delegate reverse DNS: configure the BGP session with your upstreams, then enter your nameservers in the dashboard and we add the NS delegation inside our zone.
A leased block is registered as an assignment. Under ripe-738 section 2.6 an assignment is not sub-assigned to other parties, but giving another entity separate addresses from a subnet on a link you operate is not a sub-assignment: servers and appliances on your network, visitors, point-to-point links with third parties. That covers hosting, VPN concentrators, enterprise sites and the WAN side of customer CPE. An ISP that delegates whole prefixes to subscribers (a /56 per home, for example) needs a sub-allocation or its own allocation as a RIPE NCC member. Ask us before ordering: larger sizes and sub-allocations are on request.
Key Benefits for ISPs
1. Lower Barrier to Entry
There is no €1,800 annual LIR fee and no €1,000 sign-up fee (RIPE NCC, 2026). You pay a fixed yearly price per block instead, and the full comparison is in the cost section below.
2. Faster Deployment
If you already hold an ASN, a leased block is provisioned automatically after payment: inet6num, then route6 and ROA. Membership adds the RIPE NCC's own review of the member application and of the allocation request, for which it publishes no fixed time. Either way the RIPE NCC handles the registry side and you handle the routing.
3. Flexibility and Scalability
Start with a /48, move to a /44 when the customer base grows. Larger sizes are on request.
4. Simplified Operations
The lessor files and maintains the RIPE Database objects; you keep your organization data current and use the block within ripe-738.
5. Risk Mitigation
A /48 at €40 per year lets you pilot native IPv6 with a customer group before touching the whole network. If regional adoption lags (country figures at APNIC IPv6 stats), the lease simply is not renewed.
Use Cases for IPv6 Leasing
Small to Medium ISPs
Profile:
- Regional or local service providers
- 500-10,000 customers
- Limited technical staff
- Tight operational budgets
IPv6 Leasing Benefits: A /48 or /44 covers the ISP's own infrastructure: core, hosting, VPN and the addresses given to servers and CPE on links the ISP operates. Delegating whole prefixes to each subscriber needs a sub-allocation or an allocation of your own (see the ripe-738 note above).
Wireless ISPs (WISPs)
Profile:
- Point-to-point and point-to-multipoint wireless networks
- Underserved rural or suburban areas
- Rapid deployment capabilities
- Often smaller organizations
IPv6 Leasing Benefits:
- Quick deployment matching rapid network build-out
- Geographic flexibility for coverage area expansion
- Lower overhead aligning with lean operations
- IPv6 enables better network architecture than CGNAT alternatives
Hosting and Data Center Providers
Profile:
- Hosting companies offering dedicated servers and VPS
- Data centers providing colocation with connectivity
- Cloud service providers
- CDN operators
IPv6 Leasing Benefits:
- Provide native IPv6 to customers without RIR membership
- Give every VPS and dedicated server a native IPv6 address (allowed under ripe-738 2.6: addresses on your own links)
- Scale address space with customer demand
Customer Demand: Hosting customers increasingly require IPv6 for modern application deployment, compliance, and global accessibility.
Enterprise Network Operators
Profile:
- Large enterprises operating internal ISP-like networks
- Multi-site organizations that want addressing independent of their access providers
- Companies with complex network requirements
IPv6 Leasing Benefits:
- Enable advanced network architectures
- Support M&A integration and multi-cloud strategies
- If the block must survive a change of provider, an IPv6 PI /48 (€435 the first year, €135 per year after) is the portable option
IoT and Mobile Network Operators
Profile:
- Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
- IoT connectivity providers
- Smart city infrastructure operators
IPv6 Leasing Benefits:
- Abundant addresses for massive IoT device deployments
- Better suited to mobile and IoT than scarce IPv4
- Simplified network architecture vs. CGNAT
- End-to-end connectivity for IoT applications
Market Opportunity: with most users in France, Germany and India already on native IPv6 (figures above), an MVNO or IoT platform that ships IPv6-only devices no longer needs an IPv4 address per device.
Implementation Considerations
Technical Requirements
Prerequisites for IPv6 Leasing:
- Autonomous System Number (ASN): Required for BGP routing
- Through a sponsoring LIR a RIPE ASN costs €130 per year (as of September 2026), no RIPE NCC membership needed; our ASN registration form can add a leased /48 or an IPv6 PI /48 in the same order
- If you already hold an ASN under another sponsoring LIR, you can keep it there or change your sponsoring LIR to us for the same €130 per year with no setup fee
- BGP-Capable Network Equipment: Routers supporting IPv6 and BGP
- Most modern routers support IPv6 BGP
- Firmware updates may enable IPv6 on older equipment
- Consider redundant routers for reliability
- Two upstreams or peers: the RIPE NCC assigns an ASN only to a multihomed network (ripe-679), and the request form asks for at least two peers. Check that both accept your IPv6 prefix.
- IPv6 Infrastructure: Internal network supporting IPv6
- Dual-stack routers and switches
- IPv6-capable customer provisioning systems
- DHCPv6 and/or SLAAC for address assignment
- DNS infrastructure (AAAA records)
Network Architecture
Dual-Stack Deployment: Most ISPs deploy dual-stack (simultaneous IPv4 and IPv6):
- Maintains IPv4 for legacy compatibility
- Provides IPv6 for modern services
- Allows gradual transition
- Keeps every client reachable
Address Allocation Strategy:
- When you hand prefixes to end sites (from a sub-allocation or your own allocation), size them per ripe-690: a /48 for every customer, or a /48 for business and a /56 for residential customers; prefixes longer than /56 are strongly discouraged
- RFC 6177 dropped the single /48 default in 2011
- Inside a leased /48 or /44, plan on one /64 per subnet and keep a nibble boundary between sites
Routing Design:
- Announce your leased IPv6 block via BGP
- Implement appropriate route filtering
- Configure customer routes appropriately
- Monitor route propagation globally
Operational Practices
Customer Education:
- Many customers lack IPv6 knowledge
- Provide documentation and guides
- Offer configuration assistance
- Train support staff on IPv6
Monitoring and Troubleshooting:
- Implement IPv6-specific monitoring
- Track IPv6 traffic volumes and patterns
- Monitor for routing issues
- Establish IPv6 troubleshooting procedures
Security: filter your IPv6 border like your IPv4 one (RA guard on access ports, ICMPv6 allowed, bogon and your own prefix filtered inbound).
What does leased IPv6 cost an ISP?
| Route (RIPE region, 2026) | Year one | After |
|---|---|---|
| Leased /44 plus a sponsored ASN (ours) | €80 + €130 = €210 | €210 per year |
| Leased /48 plus a sponsored ASN (ours) | €40 + €130 = €170 | €170 per year |
| RIPE NCC membership with one ASN | €1,000 sign-up + €1,800 + €50 (ripe-848) | €1,894 in 2027, first ASN included (ripe-867) |
A member joining mid-year pays the first annual fee pro rata per quarter (RIPE NCC Billing Procedure 2026). Equipment, transit and staff time are the same on both routes.
Revenue Opportunities
Direct Revenue:
- Premium pricing for IPv6 service (when market supports)
- Ability to serve IPv6-requiring customers
- Competitive advantage in RFP responses
- Reduced churn from customers needing IPv6
Cost Avoidance:
- Eliminates or reduces CGNAT equipment needs
- Every public IPv4 address on AWS costs $0.005 per hour since 1 February 2024, about $43.80 per address per year (AWS VPC pricing); leased IPv4 averaged $0.35 per IP per month on the IPXO platform (data of 25 September 2026). Native IPv6 cuts the number of IPv4 addresses a new subscriber needs
- For the IPv4 side of a dual-stack network, see IPv4 leasing vs purchasing
- Reduces network complexity and operational overhead
- Prevents customer loss to IPv6-capable competitors
When to move from leased PA to PI or membership
Leased PA space stops fitting in two cases. The first is portability: if the block must stay with you when you change provider, an IPv6 PI /48 is registered by the RIPE NCC to your organization, moves between sponsoring LIRs, and carries RPKI through your own End User hosted CA. Through us it costs €300 setup plus €135 per year, €435 the first year. The differences are laid out in PI vs PA Resources: Key Differences.
The second is scale: an ISP that delegates prefixes to thousands of subscribers needs an allocation of its own. RIPE NCC membership costs €1,000 to join and €1,800 per year in 2026 (€1,894 in 2027 with one ASN included), brings an IPv6 allocation of /32 up to /29 without extra justification (ripe-738 section 5.1.2), and at most one IPv4 /24 ever, through the waiting list. LIR consulting is how we help members-to-be through the application. Whichever route you take, renumber out of the leased block before the lease ends: PA space returns to the pool.
How Via-Registry Supports ISPs
We lease a /48 for €40 per year and a /44 for €80 per year; larger sizes are on request. An ASN is required to announce the block. After payment we create the inet6num, then the route6 object and the ROA for your ASN, and the LOA is generated automatically in your dashboard. For reverse DNS you enter your nameservers in the dashboard and we delegate them inside our zone.
An ASN through our sponsorship costs €130 per year, and the ASN order form can add a leased /48 or a PI /48 in the same order. Questions about sizes above /44, sub-allocations or an ASN you hold elsewhere: contact us.
Summary
Leasing suits an ISP that holds an ASN and needs IPv6 now: a /48 or /44 at a fixed yearly price, with route6, ROA and LOA handled for you. It stops fitting when you need space that moves with you (take an IPv6 PI /48) or allocations of your own (RIPE NCC membership). If you delegate prefixes to subscribers, check the registration status of the block first. For the fundamentals of IP leasing, read How IP Leasing Works: A Practical Guide for Network Operators.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can leased IPv6 addresses be announced via BGP?
From your own ASN, in the same way as any other prefix. For a block leased from us we create the route6 object and a ROA for your ASN, and the LOA your upstreams ask for is generated automatically in the dashboard.
What does the RIPE Database show for a leased block?
An inet6num object with your organization, registered inside the lessor's allocation. Anyone running a whois lookup can see both objects, so a leased block is not hidden, and it is not mistaken for PI either.
Can we get reverse DNS delegation for leased IPv6 addresses?
You enter your nameservers in the dashboard and we add the NS delegation inside our zone. A separate RIPE domain object is not possible for a block inside a /32 allocation, so the delegation is done at the zone level; PI blocks get their own RIPE domain object instead.
What happens if we outgrow our leased IPv6 block?
Order the next size up (a /44 at €80 per year) and renumber, or ask us about larger sizes. If you need space that moves with you between providers, an IPv6 PI /48 is the option; if you delegate prefixes to subscribers at scale, an allocation of your own is.
What do RIPE policies say about leased IPv6?
A leased block is a PA assignment out of the lessor's allocation, registered in the RIPE Database and used under ripe-738. Section 2.6 rules that an assignment is not sub-assigned to other parties; addresses handed to servers, visitors or point-to-point links on your network are fine, delegating whole prefixes to subscribers is not. Other RIRs have their own rules; our blocks are RIPE region space.
Can we lease IPv6 in one region but operate in another?
You can announce a RIPE region block from anywhere; BGP does not care which RIR registered it. Publish a geofeed (RFC 9632) for the block so geolocation databases place your customers in the right country.