PARIS – Governments and businesses must tackle the problem of a shortage of Internet addresses, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states in a new report.
The growing demand for Internet addresses must be addressed to secure the future of the Internet economy, according to the report.
Experts predict, if current trends continue, that addresses will run out by 2011. Nearly 85% of all available Internet addresses are now already in use.
This could mean that new Internet users or mobile devices will not be able to access the Internet, the report warns. The solution, according to the OECD, is Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), which will it says will provide an almost unlimited number of addresses and help drive the rollout of broadband, Internet-connected mobile phones and sensor networks, and new Internet services.
Governments and businesses should prepare to move from Internet Protocol version 4 to IPv6, and explain to Internet Service Providers and IT professionals that the move is a commercial and social opportunity, not a financial burden, states the report.
The OECD points out that service providers are reluctant to invest because customer demand for IPv6 is low. It notes that governments could stimulate demand for IPv6 through their own procurement policies and through public-private partnerships in IPv6 research and development.
Some countries, such as Japan, are taking a lead in deploying IPv6 networks. The Japanese telecommunications firm NTT, for example, uses IPv6 to connect thousands of earthquake sensors via a computer system that sends automatic alerts to television programs and turns traffic lights red. This type of application requires millions of addresses and, therefore, cannot work on today’s Internet but already does on IPv6.
As well, the United States government has set June 2008 as the deadline by which the Internet network of every government agency must be compatible with IPv6.
The Chinese government has also begun rolling out an IPv6 network, called China Next Generation Internet, and will use the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to test mobile devices and intelligent transport and security systems running on IPv6.
