Global tech brands go live with IPv6

A roster of large global brands made internet history Tuesday, by permanently making the switch to the IPv6 networking protocol. The coordinated move by well known online brands such as Google, Facebook and Yahoo means that all their participating services are now available via IPv6 enabled equipment. The companies have all joined together for the World IPv6 launch, an event organised by the Internet Society and a follow up to the World IPv6 day, which was held last year on 8 June 2011.

The IPv6 protocol is a successor to the current internet protocol, IPv4, and the move to the newer standard is seen as critical for the future of the internet. The issue with IPv4, is that according to companies such as Ericsson, by 2020 more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the internet, a number than the IPv4 protocol, which is limited to  4.3 billion addresses, will not be able to accommodate. This is because the pool of unallocated addresses, as managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), is running out.  IPv6 however, offers 340 undecillion addresses, which should be more than enough for the foreseeable future.

In a statement, Erik Ekudden, vice president, and Head of Technology Strategies and Industry at Ericsson said that, “This is an important day for us at Ericsson, as our research teams around the world have helped develop IPv6 for over a decade. As we expect mobile broadband subscriptions to reach five billion in 2017, we need a new generation of IP to support this.”

Other companies that have officially joined in the World IPv6 launch include Akamai, Comcast, Cisco, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and D-Link.

The IPv6 Forum, a world-wide consortium of leading vendors, internet service vendors, National research & Education Networks (NRENs) and international ISPs, are one of the associations endorsing the Broadband World Forum 2012, taking place on the 16 – 18 October 2012 at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The iPv6 Event 2012 is taking place on the 26-27 June 2012 at the Hotel Husa President Park, Brussels, Belgium. Click here to register your interest.