Dear Colleagues, Within the RIPE community the AS policy (ripe-245) is based upon RFC 1930. The RIPE policy states that "a network [is required] to be multihomed for an AS number to be assigned". However, there is no clear policy on returning unused AS numbers to the pool. We would be grateful if the community would clarify the policy so that it is clear when an unused AS number should be returned to the pool. Specific questions we would like to ask are: 1. How long does the community believe it is reasonable to take to bring an AS 'on-line'? 2. After how many months of not being in use should an AS be returned? Due to a lack of time in the LIR Working Group session at RIPE 42 (May 2002) we were not able to discuss the community's policy for AS numbers. We would like to raise the issue now so that there is ample time for a discussion before RIPE 43, on Rhodes, in September. We welcome the community's input on this policy matter. Kind regards, -- leo vegoda RIPE NCC, Registration Services Assistant Manager