APAC Networks Switch on IPv6

By Tech Wire Asia | 7 June, 2012

Thousands of corporations and millions of websites have now permanently adopted Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) for their networks and services. Japan telco operator KDDI, Australia service networks Internode and Hughes Network Systems India are few firms in Asia Pacific that have been enabled the next generation IP technology, in line with World IPv6 Launch Day. The four top visited websites worldwide — Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Yahoo! — have likewise switched on IPv6. See here the video of Jason Fesler talking about Yahoo! network on IPv6.

World IPv6 Launch Day was organized by the US-based nonprofit Internet Society (ISOC), which believes that the Internet should be open and available for everyone. The launch is part of the organization’s mission to ensure that the Internet can continue growing and connecting billions of people and devices around the world.

In an earlier post we have noted that Asia Pacific is the first region to run out of IPv4 addresses, beingt the largest group of Internet users on the planet. As expected, major global sites and regional providers welcome IPv6, so that apps and services will continue to be available to users without interruption. This will likewise encourage other service providers and network operators to follow suit.

ISOC Chief Internet Technology Officer Leslie Daigle highlights the essential nature of IPv6. “IPv6 is ready for business today and will very soon be a must have. We believe that the commitment of these companies to deploy IPv6 will ensure that they remain industry leaders. Any company wishing to be effective in the new Internet should do the same.”

So how will the the switch work? It will have to be initiated by service providers. Major sites have started using IPv6 addresses on June 6 at 0000 UTC. Internet Service Providers (ISP) will implement it on their current and all new residential wire-line subscribers permanently. Home networking equipment manufacturers will adopt it by default and companies beyond websites, including the government, have given their support of the new Internet Protocol standard.

“Some governments in Asia Pacific have committed to enable IPv6 in their internal networks with set deadlines and, given that they run such large networks, having them on IPv6 is a big step in itself,” said newly-appointed Regional Director for ISOC Asia-Pacific Bureau Rajnesh Singh.

Numerous events across major cities around the globe are planned for celebrating the IPv6 launch throughout the year. In Asia Pacific, we will see such events in Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. Aiming to drive and sustain the momentum for adoption, ISOC will support related events, such as the IPv6 Month in Sri Lanka and IPv6 Summit in Australia.

And what will happen to the 4.3 billion existing Internet Protocol addresses? The last IPv4 blocks have been assigned to the registries last year. After Asia Pacific, predictably Europe will run out of addresses this year followed by the U.S. in 2013. by 2014, it will be South America’s and Africa’s turn.

With more than 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses (hardly imaginable, isn’t it?) that IPv6 can have, it can connect five billion people who are not connected yet. The most important thing is to make sure that the Internet can continue growing indefinitely.

As of writing, two percent of Internode users are already on IPv6, and more than a million AT&T subscribers are currently running on IPv6 connectivity.