This object is the maximum number of concurrent SCTP associations this device's implementation can support, with zero meaning unlimited. For a signaling gateway carrying, say, dozens of point-code associations to multiple media gateway controllers, this is the hard ceiling: approaching it means new association setup attempts start failing, visible as a specific trunk or point code that cannot bring up signaling. A device configured with a limit of 64 that is currently running 61 active associations, per ceSctpCurrEstab, is close enough to that ceiling to justify capacity planning before adding another signaling point.