Author: Nigel Barker Date: To: users Subject: Re: [bitfolk] We will be charging for additional IPv4 addresses on
a recurringbasis from Monday 14th March 2016
Thanks Andy, makes perfect sense to me.
Nige
> Hi,
>
> If you just have the one IPv4 address on your VPS then you can
> safely stop reading as nothing is going to change for you.
>
> As for the 11% of paying customers who do have more than one IPv4
> address, read onâ¦
>
> For a long time now I have been unsatisfied with our policies for
> granting requests for additional IPv4 addresses.
>
> For the last 9 years we've done what was considered the proper thing
> in a world where available IPv4 addresses were running low: we
> haven't charged for additional IPv4 addresses, we've only asked
> customers to technically justify their requests.
>
> That had a number of problems:
>
> - It's often very difficult to pin a customer down on what exactly
> it is they're doing. The ideal scenario where one network
> engineer talks to another about requirements is rarely the case
> here.
>
> This very often left me in a position where I wasn't convinced
> that use of extra IPv4 addresses was technically required, but
> it's what the customer wanted and the sale depended upon it.
>
> There is no sane administrative fee that could be charged that
> would cover that amount of work.
>
> - Once a request was granted it has been very difficult to audit.
> There has been no incentive for customers to return IPv4 addresses
> that they are no longer using.
>
> - I don't know of another company in this same space that is
> bothering to require technical justification for IPv4 use.
>
> - We're no longer in a world where IPv4 is running out. IPv4 has
> already run out.
>
> The point of recording why any given IPv4 address was in use was
> for the case where BitFolk had to go back to RIPE to ask for more
> IPv4. Those records would have been used to prove that the IPv4
> allocation that BitFolk already has really is all used up. BitFolk
> won't be going back to RIPE because there's no IPv4 left to go
> back for. We just have to manage what we have.
>
> So, from Monday 14th March we're going to start charging for each
> IPv4 address after the first one. The charge will be £0.50+VAT per
> IPv4 per month (£1.40+VAT per quarter or £5.00+VAT per year).
>
> This will take effect immediately for new signups, but existing
> customers will only see it on invoices falling due on or after 14th
> March. Those with PayPal subscriptions will have the subscriptions
> altered, and those with Direct Debit authorisation will see the
> authorisation cancelled (they're for a fixed amount) so will need to
> re-authorise.
>
> If you're paying monthly or quarterly and your next bill falls due
> some time between now and March 14th you could consider switching to
> yearly, as you then won't be charged for this until that year runs
> out. You'd therefore save £6.00+VAT per IPv4 per year (£0.50 x 12
> monthly payments).
>
> I should point out that (under either this or the previous regime)
> BitFolk is not in any realistic danger of running out of IPv4
> addresses; this is just about managing what we already have in a
> better, fairer and more transparent way which is also more in line
> with customer expectations.
>
> IPv6 /64s and /56s remain entirely free and there are no plans to
> change that.
>
> If there is something I have forgotten to cover, please do let us
> know, either by replying here to to support@???.
>
> Cheers,
> Andy
>
> --
> http://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting
>
> "It is I, Simon Quinlank. The chief conductor on the bus that is called
> hobby." â Simon Quinlank
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