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APNIC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) that administers IP addresses for the Asia Pacific region. To get IP addresses from APNIC, you generally need to become an APNIC member or otherwise qualify, then submit a request that documents your network plan and justified need. APNIC allocates IPv4, IPv6, and Autonomous System (AS) numbers. The exact eligibility and process depend on the resource type and your organization's situation.

What APNIC does

APNIC is the Regional Internet Registry administering IP addresses for the Asia Pacific. Its stated mission is a global, open, stable, and secure Internet that serves the entire Asia Pacific community.

From its homepage, the main resource actions it highlights are:

• Get IP addresses
• Transfer IP addresses
• Go IPv6

This tells you the two main routes to obtaining addresses: getting them directly from APNIC, or transferring them from another party.

Who can request addresses

APNIC serves organizations in the Asia Pacific region. In practice, you typically need to:

• Be an organization with a presence in the Asia Pacific service region.
• Become an APNIC member, or meet the relevant qualification requirements for the resource you want.
• Be able to justify the address space you request based on your actual network needs.

Because requirements vary by resource type and by current policy, confirm the current criteria on APNIC's own pages before you apply.

What you can get

APNIC's homepage explicitly promotes going IPv6, which reflects the reality that new IPv4 space is scarce.

The general process

1. Decide what you need. Identify whether you need IPv4, IPv6, an AS number, or a combination.
2. Check eligibility and membership. Determine whether you need to become an APNIC member or meet other qualification requirements.
3. Prepare your justification. Document your network plan and your need for the addresses. This is a core part of the request.
4. Submit the request. Follow APNIC's current application process for the resource type.
5. Pay any applicable fees. APNIC's site includes a billing procedure and a "Make a payment" page, so fees are part of the process. Check the current fee schedule directly.
6. Receive and use the resources. Once approved, the addresses or AS number are allocated or assigned to you.

Transfers as an alternative

If you cannot obtain the addresses you need directly, APNIC also supports IP address transfers. This means acquiring addresses from another holder rather than from APNIC's own pool. This is often relevant for IPv4, where direct availability is constrained.

Where to start

Use APNIC's own site for the authoritative steps:

• Get IP addresses — for direct requests
• Transfer IP addresses — for transfers
• Go IPv6 — for IPv6 adoption guidance
• Membership and billing pages — for fees and payment

Because policies and fees change, always confirm the current requirements and costs on apnic.net before submitting a request.

APNIC runs an open, recurring cycle of conferences, policy discussions, and technical training that anyone in the Asia Pacific Internet community can join. The main entry points are the APNIC conference (held twice a year), the Policy SIG where address policy is debated and decided, and APNIC Academy webinars. You do not need to be an APNIC member to follow the discussions or watch recordings, though some formal roles in the policy process require participation in the relevant SIG.

Where participation happens

APNIC's community activity centres on its twice-yearly conference. The most recent, APNIC 62, is a useful reference point for what a typical programme looks like.

At APNIC 62, the Policy SIG reviewed seven policy proposals, two of which reached consensus. The proposals covered IPv4, IPv6, and Internet abuse-related issues. That single session shows the range of what the policy track handles: address management rules, transition mechanics, and abuse response.

Alongside policy, the technical programme covers operational topics. APNIC 62's Technical Session 1 on Internet Operations highlighted new management capabilities for Kea DHCP and BIND DNS, preparations for the DNSSEC root KSK rollover, and ongoing challenges in certificate revocation. Other sessions at the same event examined IP geolocation — how geofeeds, RIR data, and third-party providers work together, and the tension between accuracy and user privacy.

How the policy process works

Policy proposals move through the SIG, where they are presented, debated, and either reach consensus or do not. Consensus at the SIG is the signal that a proposal has community support; from there it continues through APNIC's formal process before becoming policy.

Two practical implications follow from this:

• Timing matters. If you want to influence a proposal, the SIG discussion is the stage where argument and evidence change outcomes. Waiting until after consensus removes most of your leverage.
• Consensus is not automatic. At APNIC 62, only two of seven proposals reached consensus — the rest did not, which means the discussion itself is doing real work rather than rubber-stamping.

To take part, follow the published policy proposals before each conference, join the Policy SIG mailing list discussion, and attend the SIG session in person or remotely. The APNIC 62 recordings are available if you want to see how proposals are argued before you participate yourself.

Technical learning and webinars

APNIC Academy runs webinars on operational topics. One example from the current programme covers ASPA (Autonomous System Provider Authorization): how ASPAs work, how they complement ROAs, and how to begin monitoring and deploying them in your network. That is a concrete, deployable skill rather than a conceptual overview.

The technical content also extends to research and guest posts. Recent items include an analysis of a BGP hijack against hosting software vendor Softaculous, in which an attacker obtained a fraudulent TLS certificate and distributed a malicious Virtualizor update; a discussion of surplus DNS queries seen at APNIC Labs and the implications of how a resolver says "no"; and a guest post arguing for open-weight models over frontier APIs on the grounds that a frontier API can refuse, change, or vanish.

Choosing how to engage

Practical notes

• Conference content is recorded, so missing a live session does not cut you off from the material — APNIC 62 recordings were published for exactly this reason.
• The policy and technical tracks are separate. If your interest is address allocation rules, the Policy SIG is the relevant venue; if it is DNS, DHCP, routing, or certificates, the technical sessions are.
• Guest posts and podcast items are part of the same community output and often surface operational problems before they reach formal sessions — the surplus DNS query discussion is one example.

Participation scales with what you want from it: watching recordings is enough to stay informed, while shaping policy requires engaging with proposals while they are still open for debate.

APNIC publishes a dedicated billing procedure page for membership payments, including a "Make a payment" entry point at apnic.net/get-ip/apnic-membership/billing-procedure/make-a-payment/. If you are an APNIC member with an outstanding invoice, that page is the official starting point. The exact payment methods, currencies, and step-by-step instructions are set out in APNIC's billing guidance, so treat the official page as the source of truth rather than any third-party summary.

What APNIC membership payments cover

APNIC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) that administers IP addresses for the Asia Pacific region. Its public site groups the main member-facing actions as:

• Get IP addresses — requesting address space
• Transfer IP addresses — moving address space between parties
• Go IPv6 — IPv6 adoption and related resources
• Participate — events, policy, and community involvement

Membership fees and billing sit alongside these functions: payments relate to your membership and to the resources administered through it. The billing procedure section exists precisely because payment is tied to maintaining membership and the associated registry services.

Where to start

1. Go to the APNIC membership billing procedure area on apnic.net.
2. Open the Make a payment page: https://www.apnic.net/get-ip/apnic-membership/billing-procedure/make-a-payment/.
3. Follow the instructions on that page for your invoice or billing situation.

The expected result is that your payment is recorded against your membership account. Because APNIC's own page carries the authoritative detail, use it to confirm accepted methods and any reference numbers or invoice details you need to quote.

What to have ready

Before you begin, it helps to have:

• Your APNIC membership/account details so the payment is matched to the right account.
• Your invoice or billing reference, if one has been issued.
• Any payment method details required by the method you choose on the official page.

Common sticking points

• Assuming a method is supported. The available payment methods are defined by APNIC's billing guidance, not by general assumptions about how RIRs collect fees. Check the official page.
• Paying without a reference. If your payment can't be matched to your membership account, it may not be applied correctly. Use whatever identifier APNIC's page tells you to include.
• Confusing membership payment with resource requests. Getting or transferring IP addresses is a separate process from settling membership billing; the payment page handles the billing side.

If you need help

APNIC's site is the primary reference for billing procedure and payment. If the official page doesn't resolve your situation, contact APNIC directly through the channels listed on apnic.net rather than relying on unofficial instructions.

APNIC supports transferring IP addresses (and AS numbers) between organizations in the Asia Pacific region, but a transfer is not a simple handover — it is a policy-controlled change of holder that must be assessed and recorded in the APNIC registry. Transfers generally apply when a resource needs to move to a different organization, such as during a merger, network restructuring, or reallocation of unused space. The exact requirements depend on whether the source and recipient are APNIC members, whether the resources are IPv4, IPv6, or ASNs, and whether the transfer is within the APNIC region or inter-RIR.

What an APNIC transfer actually changes

A transfer updates the registered holder of an IP address block or AS number. After approval, the resource is recorded against the recipient's account, and the original holder no longer has registry authority over it. This matters because APNIC registration data underpins routing, reverse DNS, and geolocation — so the transfer must be reflected in the registry, not just agreed between two parties.

Common transfer scenarios

• Mergers and acquisitions — the acquiring organization takes over address space held by the acquired entity.
• Network reorganization — a business restructures and moves resources to a different legal entity.
• Reallocating unused space — an organization with surplus addresses transfers them to one that needs them.
• Inter-RIR transfers — moving resources between APNIC and another Regional Internet Registry, subject to both registries' policies.

Basic requirements and conditions

• The transfer must comply with APNIC transfer policy, which sets eligibility and needs-based conditions.
• The recipient typically needs to demonstrate a legitimate need for the resources.
• Membership status matters: transfers often involve APNIC members, and non-members may need to become members or work through a member.
• Documentation is required — for example, evidence of the corporate transaction or the agreement between parties.
• Fees may apply. APNIC publishes billing and payment information, including a "Make a payment" page, so costs should be confirmed with APNIC rather than assumed.

How the process generally works

1. Confirm eligibility — check APNIC's current transfer policy for the resource type and the parties involved.
2. Prepare documentation — gather proof of need, corporate change, or the transfer agreement.
3. Submit the transfer request — through APNIC's processes, with the source holder's authorization.
4. APNIC assessment — APNIC reviews the request against policy and may request more information.
5. Registry update — once approved, APNIC records the new holder and updates related registry data.

What to verify before proceeding

• Whether the transfer is intra-RIR (within APNIC) or inter-RIR, since the rules differ.
• Whether the recipient qualifies under needs-based assessment.
• The current fees and membership implications, confirmed directly with APNIC.
• Any impact on reverse DNS, routing announcements, and geolocation data after the holder changes.

Because transfer policy and fees can change, the authoritative source is APNIC's own policy and membership documentation rather than second-hand summaries.

APNIC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) that administers IP addresses for the Asia Pacific region. If you are an ISP, enterprise, or other organization in that region that needs IPv4 or IPv6 address space, APNIC is the body you deal with — either directly as a member or through a membership arrangement. Its stated purpose is to support a global, open, stable, and secure Internet serving the entire Asia Pacific community.

What an RIR actually does

An RIR manages the distribution and registration of Internet number resources — primarily IP addresses (IPv4 and IPv6) — within a defined geographic region. APNIC's region covers the Asia Pacific. That means:

• Allocating and assigning IP addresses to organizations that qualify, following policies set by the community.
• Maintaining registration records so that address space can be traced to a holder.
• Supporting transfers of IP addresses between parties.
• Facilitating policy development through an open, consensus-based process.

This is a coordination role, not a commercial one. APNIC does not sell Internet access or route traffic; it manages the underlying number resources that networks need to operate.

Who needs APNIC

You are likely to interact with APNIC if you are:

• An ISP or network operator needing address space to assign to customers.
• An enterprise or hosting provider that needs its own IP allocations rather than using a provider's.
• An organization transferring IP addresses to or from another party.
• Someone participating in policy discussions that shape how resources are distributed.

Individual end users generally do not interact with APNIC directly — their connectivity provider handles address management.

The main activities

Based on APNIC's own materials, its work spans several areas:

Policy development

Policy is a core function. APNIC's Policy SIG meets at APNIC conferences to review proposals. For example, at APNIC 62 the Policy SIG discussed seven proposals covering IPv4, IPv6, and Internet abuse-related issues, with two reaching consensus. This is how the rules governing address distribution evolve — through community discussion rather than a single authority deciding.

Training and technical community

APNIC runs an Academy with webinars and training. One example is a session on ASPA (Autonomous System Provider Authorization), explaining how ASPAs work, how they complement ROAs, and how to begin monitoring and deploying them. APNIC also publishes technical articles and a podcast, covering topics such as routing security, DNS, DHCP, and BGP resilience.

Events

APNIC conferences (like APNIC 62) bring together the technical and policy community. Sessions cover Internet operations topics — for instance, updates on DNS, DHCP, certificate security, and BGP routing resilience, including new management capabilities for Kea DHCP and BIND DNS and preparations for the DNSSEC root KSK rollover.

Membership and payment

APNIC operates a membership model. Its site includes a billing procedure and a "Make a payment" path for members. If you need IP addresses, membership is typically the route — but the specific fees, eligibility rules, and current terms are set out in APNIC's own membership and billing documentation, so check those directly rather than assuming a cost structure.

Why it matters beyond registrants

Even if you never apply for addresses, APNIC's work affects you indirectly:

• Routing security efforts (ROAs, ASPAs) depend on registry data.
• IP geolocation accuracy draws on RIR data; at APNIC 62, panelists explored how geofeeds, RIR data, and third-party providers work together and why improving accuracy while protecting privacy matters.
• Policy decisions on IPv4, IPv6, and abuse shape how the region's networks operate.

Bottom line

APNIC is the Asia Pacific's IP address registry: it distributes and records Internet number resources, runs the policy process that governs them, and supports the region's technical community through training and events. If your organization needs IP addresses in the Asia Pacific, APNIC is the entry point. If you just want to understand how the region's Internet resources are managed, it is the body setting and administering those rules.