Amid a shortage of IPv4 addresses, Zegona—owner of Vodafone Spain—has found a quick liquidity route: selling part of its inherited historical blocks, mainly from ONO and Airtel. Since July, 32 transactions have closed, totaling 282,800 IPv4 addresses, with buyers ranging from U.S. cloud providers to regional operators in Spain. In parallel, IPv6 is beginning to gain traction: increasing in mobile networks, normalized by hyperscalers, and with transition tools maturing. Two opposing forces coexist in 2025: the short term continues to pay dearly for IPv4 numbers; the medium term pushes for completing the shift to IPv6.
The golden vein: 282,800 IPv4 sold and rising market price
This movement hasn’t been isolated but a steady drip:
- July 4th: First major sale with 131,072 addresses from the block 217.216.0.0/15 to TerraTransit AG (Germany).
- Late August and September: medium and small blocks (/20, /21, /22) sold to companies like cleardocks LLC, Keminet SHPK, Vento Rede, S.L., ATUAXANELA, S.L., Soluciones Corporativas IP, SL, INDE PTE LTD (Singapore), and O.M.C. Computers & Communications LTD (Israel).
- September 25: Transfer of 80.174.0.0/16 (65,536 addresses) to European ION Investment Group SL (Spain).
- October 8th and 14th: Multiple blocks to steel-axis LLC, truview LLC, DSLmobil GmbH, and FIBERGREEN Tecnológicas S.L.
In total, 282,800 addresses leaving the holding. With an average price around $30 per IP, the estimated revenue is approximately €7.2 million. It’s not unique: last July, a sale of 65,536 addresses from the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce to Amazon was announced for over €2 million. In a country where only 10.85% of traffic runs over IPv6, the scarcity of IPv4 maintains high prices and a very active secondary market.
Is Vodafone running out of public addresses?
No. Vodafone Spain has accumulated nearly 6 million public IPv4 addresses from its former LIRs—3,144,704 from Airtel and 2,841,088 from ONO. This “cushion” allows sales without compromising daily operations, especially if CG-NAT (multiple clients sharing an IP) becomes widespread in low-cost segments, reserving dedicated IPs for businesses, backbones, and core services. The key lies in which blocks are sold: contiguous large ranges (/16, /15) are more sought after but complicate internal readdressing; sales have mixed large ranges and medium subnets, indicating fine inventory management.
The other side: CG-NAT as an hidden toll
Operators with fewer IPs—and those looking to cut costs—are turning to CG-NAT. Advantages include saving IPv4 addresses and reducing operational pressure. Disadvantages involve complicating incoming connections, home servers, online gaming with strict NAT, P2P, cameras, and smart home devices accessible from outside. Many clients don’t notice; others realize the issue when needing to port forward and the operator offers public IP as an extra. Zegona’s strategy suggests that CG-NAT will continue growing in residential segments, and public IPs will retain their “premium” value.
Spain, at the back of IPv6… but showing signs of takeoff
That only 10.85% of domestic traffic uses IPv6 is an anomaly within Europe. Several reasons: veteran operators with large reserves of IPv4, early mobile deployments but lagging fiber, legacy applications without native support, and a perception of an “invisible benefit” for users. Still, a takeoff is emerging:
- Mobile: 4G/5G networks operate with IPv6 in much of the infrastructure; the path is set in devices and stacks (Android/iOS).
- Cloud: major platforms natively expose IPv6 services and push VPCs and load balancers with dual support.
- Mature transition: NAT64/DNS64, 464XLAT, MAP-T, and DS-Lite work; modern CPEs are ready.
- Tools: monitoring systems and application stacks now consider dual-stack as the default scenario.
As long as the dual-stack (IPv4+IPv6) persists, user experience shouldn’t degrade. The real push will come when new services are IPv6-first and IPv4 is used mainly for compatibility, not as a crutch.
Why IPv4 is so valuable (and why it’s a peculiar market)
- Fixed supply, active demand: IPv4 pools are exhausted at RIRs; each sale is a transfer between owners, not a new issuance.
- Reputation matters: “clean” blocks (little blacklisting, low abuse history) are worth more; some “burned” ranges trade at discounts.
- Geolocation: some pay extra for Spanish IPs for content, advertising, or compliance.
- Size counts: a /16 is easier to operate and announce; small “tacos” fit better in modest networks.
- Volatility: IP prices fluctuate with macroeconomic factors, industry mergers, and the push or pull of IPv6 adoption in each region.
What should companies (and governments) do in 2025?
1) Adopt dual-stack wherever there’s public exposure. For new services: IPv6 from day 1 and IPv4 as long as needed. In internal networks, leverage IPv6 for segmentation and observability without exhausting IPv4.
2) Rethink dependency on public IPs. Many use cases can rely on reverse proxies, Anycast, SNI, load balancers, and tunnels to reduce IPv4 consumption without losing control.
3) If requiring many IPv4s, professionalize the purchase. Request abuse history, transfer documentation, and allocate time for reputation cleanup. Avoid opaque transactions.
4) Train development and DevOps. Ensure applications and pipelines support IPv6 (parsers, logs, ACLs, WAFs, regex) that handle long addresses gracefully. Many issues stem from legacy code assuming “IPv4 forever.”
5) Review CPEs and peering. Gateways, firewalls, load balancers, and routers need to handle NAT64, DHCPv6-PD, SLAAC, RA, and diagnostic tools appropriately. Not everything can be diagnosed with ping and traceroute alone.
For advanced users: how to coexist with CG-NAT until IPv6 arrives
- Request public IPs if you need incoming ports (gaming, cameras, home automation).
- Consider tunnels (WireGuard/IPv6-over-IPv4 or vice versa) to a VPS with a public IP if your provider offers no alternative.
- Check if your line already has IPv6: many routers enable it but no one tells you; activating SLAAC or DHCPv6-PD might take just minutes.
- If your mobile provider operates in IPv6-only with 464XLAT, almost everything “just works”: use this as an incentive to push for IPv6 in your home-lab.
Is it sustainable to sell IPv4 while delaying IPv6?
In the short term, yes: releases cash and doesn’t break anything if managed carefully. In the medium term, the risk is losing advantage as clients demand IPv6 for better performance, compliance, or third-party integration. The strategic picture recommends monetizing IPv4 surplus without halting IPv6 scaling, as operational savings (less NAT, fewer “glue” points, reduced troubleshooting quirks) eventually outweigh the losses.
Conclusion: two speeds, one destination
Spain operates at two speeds. The secondary IPv4 market is at its peak, rewarding those with reserves like Vodafone Spain. Meanwhile, IPv6 gains strength where technological turnover is faster: mobile, cloud, and new deployments. By 2026, Spain should be a stable dual-stack country, with less CG-NAT where it hurts and more IPv6-first services. Until then, headlines like Zegona’s will keep appearing… and more customers will face the reality of scarcity behind port problems.
FAQs
How does CG-NAT affect me if I’m a gamer or have smart home devices?
CG-NAT complicates incoming connections and can force strict NAT in gaming, cause issues with home servers, P2P, or remotely accessible cameras. Ask your provider for a public IP or set up a tunnel to a VPS with one. If your network supports IPv6, you can expose services more cleanly with an appropriate firewall.
How do I check if my connection supports IPv6 and enable it?
Many routers only require enabling SLAAC or DHCPv6-PD. Verify in the WAN interface or the IPv6 status in your device. If a /56 or /64 prefix appears and devices get addresses in 2000::/3, you’re already using IPv6.
Why are IPv4 addresses still so expensive if IPv6 exists?
Because millions of services and networks still depend on IPv4, and no new addresses are being issued. Transfers between owners are the only option. Until IPv6 adoption becomes widespread in fixed access, IPv4 demand remains high.
I run a startup and need dozens of public IPs. Should I buy, rent, or go dual-stack?
If temporary, renting makes sense. For stable production, consider dual-stack (IPv6-first) and optimize IPv4 use with reverse proxy and load balancers. If purchasing, verify clean history, transfer docs, and allow time to rehabilitate reputation before deploying.
via: IPv4 Zegona Vodafone