The RIPE NCC: fees, the waiting list and transfer rules

The RIPE NCC is the regional internet registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia, over 75 countries, run from Amsterdam. It ran out of IPv4 on 25 November 2019: new members now wait in line for a single /24, and most IPv4 changes hands by transfer, which the RIPE NCC registers free of charge. Membership costs €1,800 a year in 2026 and €1,894 in 2027.

Who it is

An association under Dutch law, with its seat in Amsterdam, working since 1992. In September 2026 it had 20,004 members holding 20,709 LIR accounts. A member signs the Standard Service Agreement, and its membership becomes full after six months. The members decide the fees at the General Meeting each May.

What it costs

• The yearly fee covers the member's own IPv6 allocation: there is no separate charge for it.
• In the year you join, the yearly fee is charged pro rata for each quarter from the day you sign.
• The 2027 scheme was close: the General Meeting of May 2026 chose one fee per LIR account over a model with fee categories by 51.12% to 48.88% of the votes.

The IPv4 waiting list

Since the last addresses went on 25 November 2019, every request for IPv4 joins a first-come, first-served list:

• Exactly one /24, to an LIR account that has never received IPv4 from the RIPE NCC, waiting list included.
• From recovered space: addresses that come back when members close or return them, held in quarantine before they go out again. The RIPE NCC does not expect to recover many.
• On 16 October 2026, 799 LIRs were waiting, and the first had waited 480 days. The queue peaked at 1,249 on 6 March 2023, and the longest wait was 616 days, on 22 June 2025.
• A /24 from the list cannot be transferred for 24 months.
• Extra LIR accounts are restricted since 29 September 2026, by decision of the RIPE NCC's Executive Board, until the policy discussion about them ends. That includes an account that would come with a merger between two members; the acquirer can have the resources transferred to its own account instead.

Whether the wait is worth it for you is in the RIPE waiting list: worth it?.

Transfers within the region

The rules are in RIPE-807:

• Who can receive. Allocated space goes only to a RIPE NCC member. Independent space can also go to an organization with a sponsoring LIR.
• No needs test, and no minimum size for IPv4 (IPv6: a /32 from an allocation, a /48 of PI).
• A 24-month lock. IPv4 addresses and 16-bit AS numbers cannot move on for 24 months from the date they were received.
• Temporary transfers are possible: the block returns to its holder on a date set in the transfer agreement.
• The paperwork. A transfer agreement on the RIPE NCC's template, signed by both parties' authorized representatives, with all invoices paid. Only the offering LIR, or the sponsoring LIR of an offering end user, can submit it, and the RIPE NCC checks the EU sanctions lists.
• The time. "In most cases, a transfer is completed within one or two business days", the RIPE NCC says, once the documents are complete.

Transfers are common: in July 2026 alone, the RIPE NCC registered transfers of 5.9 million IPv4 addresses. How the rules compare with other regions is in the three registries compared.

Transfers to and from other registries

Both registries have to approve. Space arriving at the RIPE NCC becomes allocated space for a member, independent space for a sponsored holder, or stays legacy. When a block leaves the region, its reverse DNS is removed and its ROAs are withdrawn, so it shows as RPKI unknown until the new holder signs new ones.

From the start of these transfers to 30 June 2026, 999 transfers brought 41.6 million addresses from ARIN to the RIPE NCC, more than between any other two registries.

Mergers and legacy space

• Mergers and acquisitions are registered through the LIR Portal, with company registration documents and the legal documents of the change, and the same 24-month lock applies.
• Legacy space, handed out before the RIPE NCC existed, needs no contract. Its holder can register it under a membership, through a sponsoring LIR, under a direct contract, or not at all; RPKI for it does need a contract. The RIPE NCC handles legacy transfers "on a best effort basis", since no policy covers them. More in legacy IPv4 space.

IPv6

• For members: a /32 at least, and up to a /29 without further information, for an LIR that plans to assign within two years.
• Independent (PI): at least a /48, which cannot be passed on to other organizations, at €75 a year through a sponsoring LIR or a member.
• A proposal to rewrite the PI rules was withdrawn in September 2026, so they stand. Which to choose is in IPv6: PI, PA or lease.

AS numbers

• Who qualifies: a network that is multihomed and needs its own routing policy, registered in RPSL (RIPE-679).
• Who can hold one: any organization, as a RIPE NCC member or through a sponsoring LIR.
• What it costs: €50 a year in 2026; from 2027 the first AS number on an LIR account is included.
• Coming: proposal 2026-01 would let a holder of RIPE NCC space have its first AS number without the multihoming test. It is in review until 10 November 2026.

The RIPE NCC had assigned 39,551 AS numbers by 30 June 2026. More on what they are is in what is an ASN.

RPKI and the routing registry

Members can run their own certificate authority or let the RIPE NCC host it, and sign ROAs and ASPAs in the RPKI Dashboard. By September 2026, ROAs covered 77% of the IPv4 space and 45% of the IPv6 space in the region. The RIPE Database is the region's routing registry, and route objects for space from other regions that conflict with RPKI are cleaned up.

What comes next

• The General Meeting of 28 to 30 October 2026, in Sofia, discusses a new board structure and the 2027 budget.
• Proposal 2026-02 would let the RIPE NCC quarantine resources used systematically for abuse; it is in discussion until 11 November 2026.

Where RTM Networks fits

We are a member of the RIPE NCC and a sponsoring LIR. We lease and sell IPv4 in its region, handle the transfer paperwork and registry updates for a purchase, and sponsor independent space and AS numbers for organizations that would rather not run a membership of their own: see PI and ASN sponsorship.