However, Pemberton says that should not be taken as an indication of the likely speed of exhaustion of the last block, since the previous two were not subject to the same restrictions "and I know some quite large blocks were taken up".

Currently the APNIC website refers to the maximum allocation under Stage 3 as a /22, but Pemberton says there is a possibility this may be further reduced as blocks run out.

Smaller blocks than /22 are seen as problematic for routing, he says and organisations, particularly ISPs, don't like to take them.

The implication of reaching Stage 3 is clear -- organisations that have not begun work on adopting the expanded IPv6 addressing scheme should do so now.

"We encourage Asia-Pacific Internet community members to deploy IPv6 within their organisations," says APNIC's Stage 3 press release.