[AfrICANN-discuss] IPv6 addresses: North American ISPs are now grabbing for them over IPv4

Sat Oct 24 17:46:31 SAST 2009

 Published on *InfoWorld* (http://www.infoworld.com)

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grabbing for them over IPv4
------------------------------
IPv6 addresses: North American ISPs are now grabbing for them over IPv4
By Carolyn Duffy Marsan
Created *2009-10-19 02:29PM*

U.S. ISPs are requesting more IPv6<http://www.networkworld.com/topics/ipv6.html>
 [1] addresses and fewer IPv4 addresses than ever before -- a sign that
carriers are investing in the future amidst one of the deepest
recessions<https://www.arin.net/announcements/2009/20091015.html>
[2] in modern history.

The shift in IP address requests shows that North American carriers are
getting ready for the long-anticipated
upgrade<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/102607-arguments-ipv4-ipv6.html?nwwpkg=50arguments.>
 [3] of the Internet's main communications protocol from IPv4, the current
standard, to the next-generation IPv6.

*[ What U.S. businesses are
missing<http://www.infoworld.com/t/networking/what-us-missing-ignoring-ipv6-052?source=fssr>
 [4] in their slow move to IPv6. | Despite businesses' faint interest,
the shift
to IPv6<http://www.infoworld.com/d/networking/ipv6-coming-ready-or-not-800?source=fssr>
 [5] is seen as an inevitable | Keep up on the latest networking news with
our Technology: Networking
newsletter<http://www.infoworld.com/newsletters/subscribe?showlist=infoworld_network&source=fssr>
 [6]. ]*

IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses and can support 4.3 billion individually
addressed devices on the Internet. IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses and supports
an inconceivably huge amount of devices: 2 to the 128th power. IPv6 also
offers built-in security and enhanced network management features when
compared to IPv4, which is expected to run out <http://penrose.uk6x.com/>
[7] of address space by 2012.

In the first nine months of 2009, the American Registry for Internet
Numbers (ARIN <https://www.arin.net/> [8]) received 300 requests from
carriers for blocks of IPv6 address space. This compares to 250 requests
received in all of 2008 and 2007.

"We're seeing an uptick in IPv6 address space requests; it's a very
significant growth rate," says John Curran, president and CEO of ARIN.
"We've seen a slight slowdown in IPv4 address space requests…It's probably
dropped off 10 percent or 20 percent year over year."

Curran says ARIN is beginning to see ISPs such as
Comcast<https://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/062209-comcast-ipv6.html>
 [9] and Verizon
Wireless<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/061009-verizon-lte-ipv6.html?fsrc=netflash-rss>
 [10] put a great deal of effort into migrating from IPv4-based networks to
those built using IPv6.

"ISPs are asking for IPv6 addresses so they can make their networks
IPv6-enabled so they are ready [for the future]," Curran says. "We give each
ISP enough IPv6 addresses to support 4 billion networks, and each network
can contain trillions and trillions of hosts."

Curran says the recession is not hampering carriers' interest in IPv6.

"IPv6 solves a problem that hasn't happened yet. So seeing any demand is
surprising, and it means that organizations are planning ahead," Curran
says. "The current weakness in the economy…is not dampening down IPv6 demand
significantly because IPv6 is right around the corner for ISPs. We may be
two years away from the IPv4 free pool of addresses running out, but two
years if you're an ISP is enough time to get one network deployed. Two years
is within everyone's planning horizon."

ARIN will detail the latest statistics about IPv6 address demand in North
America at a policy
meeting<https://www.arin.net/announcements/2009/20091015.html>
 [2] that will be held this week in Dearborn, Mich.

ARIN also will discuss several proposed policy changes related to IPv4
depletion and the push towards IPv6 adoption. These include:

   - Allowing ARIN to
https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2009_8.html<http://www.infoworld.com/%3Ca%20href%3D>
    [11] ">reduce the size of IPv4 address space allocations to carriers as
   the industry gets closer to IPv4 address depletion.
   - Increasing access to
IPv6<https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2009_7.html>
    [12] address space by removing the requirement for carriers to first
   demonstrate that they have hundreds of customers.
   - Allowing carriers to run multiple, discrete IPv6
networks<https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2009_5.html>
    [13] that don't have to be connected to each other, such as community
   networks.
   - Reconsideration of a current policy that requires the regional
   registries including ARIN to evenly divide up any IPv4
space<https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2009_3.html>
    [14] they are able to recover.

ARIN will hold elections at this meeting for several open board of trustees
and advisory council openings.

   - Networking <http://www.infoworld.com/category/domains/networking>
   - IPv6 <http://www.infoworld.com/category/tags/ipv6-0>
   - Internet <http://www.infoworld.com/t/internet>
   - Networking <http://www.infoworld.com/t/networking>

------------------------------
*Source URL (retrieved on 2009-10-24 08:42AM):*
http://www.infoworld.com/d/networking/ipv6-addresses-north-american-isps-are-now-grabbing-them-over-ipv4-582

*Links:*
[1] http://www.networkworld.com/topics/ipv6.html
[2] https://www.arin.net/announcements/2009/20091015.html
[3]
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/102607-arguments-ipv4-ipv6.html?nwwpkg=50arguments
.
[4]
http://www.infoworld.com/t/networking/what-us-missing-ignoring-ipv6-052?source=fssr
[5]
http://www.infoworld.com/d/networking/ipv6-coming-ready-or-not-800?source=fssr
[6]
http://www.infoworld.com/newsletters/subscribe?showlist=infoworld_network&source=fssr
[7] http://penrose.uk6x.com/
[8] https://www.arin.net/
[9] https://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/062209-comcast-ipv6.html
[10]
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/061009-verizon-lte-ipv6.html?fsrc=netflash-rss
[11] http://www.infoworld.com/%3Ca%20href%3D
[12] https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2009_7.html
[13] https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2009_5.html
[14] https://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2009_3.html
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