IPv6 is not scarce, so the question is not how to get addresses but whose they are. The prefix your provider gives you is free, and it is gone the day you change provider. Three routes give you IPv6 space of your own to route: provider independent (PI) space through a sponsoring LIR, provider aggregatable (PA) space as an LIR yourself, or a lease from an LIR's allocation. They differ in what you may do with the addresses and in what happens when you move.
Why not just use your provider's
Provider-assigned IPv6 costs nothing and works at once. It also ties you to the provider: when you leave, every prefix in your router configurations, firewall rules, DNS records and partner allowlists has to change. For a network that wants to connect to two providers, or to move without renumbering, the space has to be yours.
PI: a /48 of your own, through a sponsoring LIR
The RIPE NCC's IPv6 policy (RIPE-738) sets the minimum PI assignment at a /48, and requires a contract with the RIPE NCC or a sponsoring LIR (what a sponsoring LIR does). The space is yours and portable: announce it from your own AS number to as many upstreams as you like, or have an upstream announce it with your authorization.
The catch is the same as with IPv4 PI: "The PI assignment cannot be further sub-assigned to other organisations." The policy does allow single addresses from a subnet on a link to go to others, such as a third party's server or appliance on your network, or a point-to-point link with another party. Prefixes for customers, though, are out. PI fits an organization's own network: an enterprise, a hospital, a university, a company running its own services.
PA: an allocation as an LIR
An LIR receives IPv6 PA space, at least a /32, and up to a /29 without supplying further information (RIPE-738). It may assign prefixes from it to its customers, which is what ISPs and hosting companies need. The price is a membership: €1,000 to join and €1,800 a year in 2026, €1,894 from 2027 under RIPE-867 (the RIPE NCC's fees). Worth it if you would be an LIR anyway, for IPv4 or for your customers.
A lease from an LIR's space
An LIR can also assign you a prefix from its own allocation for as long as you lease it. You announce it from your ASN with the lessor's ROA and letter of authorization, or let a provider announce it. No membership and no sponsorship, and a /48 or larger is available quickly. The difference from PI is the end: the prefix stays with the lessor when the lease ends, so a lease suits a defined project or a network that may move to PI later.
Side by side
| PI (sponsored) | PA (your own LIR) | Lease | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smallest | /48 | /32, up to /29 on request | /48 with us |
| Prefixes to your customers | No; single addresses on a link only | Yes | Within the lessor's terms |
| Yours when you leave a provider | Yes | Yes | Yours for the term of the lease |
| Each year | €199 with us | €1,800 in 2026, €1,894 from 2027 | Quoted |
Which to choose
- Your own network, provider independence, no customers on the space: PI.
- You give prefixes to customers: PA, or a lease whose terms allow subleasing.
- IPv6 now, alongside leased IPv4, without registry paperwork: a lease.
Where RTM Networks fits
We sponsor IPv6 PI assignments at €199 a year, the same as PI or legacy IPv4, plus €149 once for the setup (PI and ASN sponsorship), and we lease IPv6 from a /48 upward out of our own allocation at the RIPE NCC, with the letter of authorization, the ROA and reverse DNS set up for you (lease IPv6).
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