With IANA allocating four /8 blocks of IPv4 addresses to the Regional Internet Registries on 30 November, there are now only seven /8s remaining in IANA free pool of IPv4 addresses, or 2.73 per cent of the original total.
This means there are only two /8 blocks remaining to be allocated in the normal distribution method as when the pool reaches five /8 blocks, these will be allocated to the RIRs.
With the rapid uptake of smartphones and other devices connecting to the internet, each one needing an IP address, and the growing number of domain names that has exceeded 202 million as announced by VeriSign this week, it is getting critical to adopt IPv6.
The critical move to IPv6 was emphasised by ARIN, the American Registry for Internet Numbers. They state that "With so little IPv4 address space left in the global free pool, ARIN continues to emphasize the need for all Internet stakeholders to adopt the next generation of Internet Protocol, IPv6."
While the remaining pool of IPv4 addresses to be allocated by IANA is nearing exhaustion, once they are allocated the RIRs will still have those addresses to allocate. Of those registries, Geoff Huston anticipates that with the continued escalation of demand, it is likely the APNIC, the Asia Pacific RIR, will exhaust its pool of IPv4 addresses between June and December 2011, most likely in September.