The last blocks of IPv4 addresses are likely to be allocated to
regional registries "within the next few weeks", Vint Cerf, formerly
chair of ICANN and now Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, has said its
time to act and adopt IPv6.
"The IP version 4 address space will be formally exhausted from ICANN's
point of view within the next few weeks, maybe less," he said at an
Internet Society of Australia reception in Sydney, reports The
Australian.
Cerf also "said he would 'do everything I possibly can' to get Google
involved in demonstrations and testing over coming months."
As the address pool runs low, some companies are busy buying blocks of
the remaining addresses at around US$0.50 for each block. However this
is short-sighted and companies would be better off upgrading their
equipment, a process which is inevitable.
Dengate-Thrush said that, eventually, the internet will be largely IPv6,
bringing a profound change, reported AFP. Where the old 32-bit protocol
is limited to about 4 billion addresses, 128-bit IPv6 can have 340
billion billion billion billion.
With more and more devices connecting to the internet every hour, demand
is high. It has been said the US military plans to have an IP address
for every piece of equipment, and AFP reports that even lamp posts could
be connected to the internet requiring an IP address so they "can
report when their bulbs need changing and every camera will have an IP
address and can upload photos automatically."
For further reading on the depletion of IPv4 addresses and the need to adopt IPv6, see:
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