Why are IPv4 addresses more expensive to lease recently?

Why are IPv4 addresses more expensive to lease recently?

• A. They offer better performance than IPv6.
• B. There are very few IPv4 addresses left, increasing demand.
• C. They are more secure than IPv6.
• D. They are required for private networks.

Answer: (B)

Supply and demand in a fixed-resource market: IPv4 addresses are scarce because the total number of possible addresses is finite, and most of them are already allocated. There aren’t many new, clean blocks left to assign, so organizations that need publicly routable addresses must compete for what remains. Although IPv6 exists to vastly expand the address pool, it’s not yet universal in all networks and services, so many buyers still rely on IPv4 for compatibility and reachability. That limited supply combined with growing demand from ISPs, data centers, cloud providers, and enterprises drives up the price of leasing IPv4 space. The other statements aren’t about why the price increases—their claims about performance, security, or private networks don’t explain the market scarcity that pushes prices higher.

Supply and demand in a fixed-resource market: IPv4 addresses are scarce because the total number of possible addresses is finite, and most of them are already allocated. There aren’t many new, clean blocks left to assign, so organizations that need publicly routable addresses must compete for what remains. Although IPv6 exists to vastly expand the address pool, it’s not yet universal in all networks and services, so many buyers still rely on IPv4 for compatibility and reachability. That limited supply combined with growing demand from ISPs, data centers, cloud providers, and enterprises drives up the price of leasing IPv4 space. The other statements aren’t about why the price increases—their claims about performance, security, or private networks don’t explain the market scarcity that pushes prices higher.