Unless action is taken, space on the current generation of the
internet is projected to be exhausted by around 2005. IPv6 will
provide a massive leap in the number of internet addresses
available for the foreseeable future.
Every device connected to the internet has an IP (Internet
Protocol) address, essentially its internet 'postal address'. When
the current version of the Internet Protocol (IPv4) was conceived
in the 1970s, it provided over 4,000 million addresses, more than
enough in the days before the internet explosion.
Today, that is not enough to provide each person on the planet
with one address. The situation is made much worse by the fact that
IPv4 addresses are not distributed evenly 74% of the IPv4
addresses have been assigned to North American organisations, with
two universities (Stanford and MIT) each having more than the
Peoples' Republic of China.
The IPv4 addresses are expected to run out by around 2005.
Moreover, future internet developments such as wireless
machine-to-machine communications, mobile computing and third
generation (3G) telephony will put an even greater strain on these
limited resources. Conversely, IPv4 is making the development of
some of these new systems impossible, with serious implications for
Europe's position as a world leader in mobile communications.
IPv6, on the other hand, provides 2128 (4 billion x 4
billion x 4 billion x 4 billion) addresses. Apart from providing
enough addresses for everyone and their internet-enabled devices,
IPv6 also makes the technologies used to work around IPv4's
limitations obsolete, making the IPv6 internet more stable,
efficient, powerful, secure and private.
However, rolling out Ipv6 is not merely a technical problem.
Building on the work of a European Commission IPv6 Task Force, the
Communication calls for Europe's research efforts to be matched by
political commitment from the Member States and industry to ensure
smooth and rapid IPv6 implementation. A concerted effort is needed
to consolidate and integrate European efforts in developing the
skills base, sustaining European research efforts, accelerating the
standards and specifications work and promoting awareness
throughout the economy.
