SIDN: IPv4 address prices are falling again after the buying frenzy during corona – IT Pro – News

The prices of IPv4 addresses are falling again, according to the Netherlands Domain Registration Foundation. According to the SIDN, this is partly because cloud providers do not buy such addresses en masse. The need for IPv4 addresses is also decreasing now that IPv6 continues to grow.

Over the past six months, prices for IPv4 addresses have fallen significantly compared to the peak that occurred in 2020 and 2021, SIDN says. According to the foundation, prices are between 30 and 40 euros, a significant drop since the peak in mid-2021, when prices had risen to between 50 and 60 euros.

The prices of IPv4 addresses are still higher than before the corona crisis, when they often fluctuated up to a maximum of 20 euros. The decline is therefore relative to the strong price increase of that period. Tweakers also wrote a background article about the price increases in 2022. These were mainly caused by the fact that cloud companies quickly started collecting IPv4 addresses. This purchasing has now largely stopped, which SIDN sees as a cause of lowering prices.

SIDN also sees that the number of IPv4 routes is no longer increasing. The adoption of IPv6 is still increasing, but according to the SIDN, less quickly than it should. “The worrying conclusion is that the IPv4 network is still doing its job, but this has been at the expense of innovation, openness and diversification on the Internet,” the foundation quotes Geoff Huston, chief scientist at Apnic. “The market has concentrated around a small number of very large parties that have an interest in risk aversion, conservatism and a desire for control. We also run the risk that the current Internet will disintegrate.”