Internet registry warns of Ipv4 depletion
- — 30 October, 2007 07:47
IPv4 address space is likely to be fully depleted within two to four years, warned a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) organisation last week.
RIPE declared its support for IPv6 at its RIPE 55 conference, saying that growth and innovation on the Internet depends on the continued availability of IP address space.
"The remaining pool of unallocated IPv4 address space is likely to be fully allocated within two to four years. IPv6 provides the necessary address space for future growth. We therefore need to facilitate the wider deployment of IPv6 addresses," the organisation declared in an official statement published on its website.
"While the existing IPv4 Internet will continue to function as it currently does, the deployment of IPv6 is necessary for the development of future IP networks."
RIPE recommends service providers make their services available over IPv6.
"We urge those who will need significant new address resources to deploy IPv6. We encourage governments to play their part in the deployment of IPv6 and in particular to ensure that all citizens will be able to participate in the future information society. We urge that the widespread deployment of IPv6 be made a high priority by all stakeholders."
There were 375 attendees at RIPE 55, from 40 countries including representatives from AfriNIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and ICANN.
RIPE is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet through technical co-ordination in its service region. It acts as a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) providing global Internet resources and related services (IPv4, IPv6 and AS Number resources) to ISPs, telecommunication organisations and large corporations located in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia.
There are a number of organisations working to build support for the new protocol in Australia, through initiatives such as the IPv6 Summit and the ITOL IPv6 for e-business project.
