economic value of low AS numbers

Thu Nov 17 14:53:26 UTC 2011

AS path geeks:

At the risk of invoking ire and eliciting comparisons to the
widely-reviled and growing practice of selling IPv4 addresses, I'm
wondering if anyone has sold legacy AS numbers for quick cash.

For example, NASA has AS23 among others, and does not use 23.  Could
they help fund a Mars mission study or two by offering it to the
highest bidder?  Or would they be lucky to top the $500 ARIN charges
for a 32-bit ASN?

How about AS1?  Level3 uses a different AS.  There's one nonpaying
customer advertised from AS1, and despite their historical involvement
creating the first predecessor of the internet, I bet DoD Network
Information Center would be willing to use a different AS for the
single prefix advertised by 1 now, if Level3 asked them nicely.  Is
Level3 leaving money on the table?

I looked a bit for any transfer or change policy that might apply
without success.  Given these are legacy assignments, I have a feeling
the POC could be changed without merger or acquisition, and I bet the
AS descriptive name could be as well.  I know I'd personally find a
low AS number worth a pretty penny, if I could find a willing seller.

I recognize there's no practical shortage of AS numbers.  BGP's
preference for low AS numbers doesn't come into play much.  On the
other hand, a low AS number can't hurt at the human level when
negotiating peering or attracting customers.

Cheers,
Dave Hart