Kathmandu, 6th June 2018
Today is the World IPV6 Launch Day, marked around the world to remember the IPV6 launch held in 6th June 2012 and to raise awareness about IPV6 for its deployment.
Internet Society Nepal Chapter in association with Nepal College of Information Technology is organizing an IPv6 Workshop. The primary objective of the event is to provide the basic understanding of IPV4, History of the Internet, Status of IPv6 Deployment in worldwide as well as Nepal, Opportunities, and Challenges of IPv6 protocol to NCIT Students.
IP Version 6 is the next generation IP address standard intended to supplement and eventually replace IPV4. Every PC, mobile phone, and any other device connected to the Internet needs a numerical IP address to communicate with other devices. The original IP address scheme called IP address to communicate with other devices. The original IP Address scheme, called IPV4, is running out of addresses. As the successor to the current IP, IPV4, IPV6 is critical to the Internet’s continued growth as a platform for the innovator and economic development. Thus it is a concern of significant stakeholders like user, regulator, business world, ISP, etc.
According to Internet Society, 2017 AD report on IPV6, deployment of IPV6 is increasing around the globe, with over Nine million domain names and Twenty three percent of all networks System advertising IPV6 connectivity. Global IPV6 traffic has grown more than Five Thousands percent since world IPV6 Launch began on 6th June 2012, with some Networks now reporting Eighty or Ninety percent deployment of IPV6 (http://www.worldipv6launch.org).
IPV4 has approximately four billion IP addresses. The explosion in the number of end users, devices and web services on the Internet means that IPV4 is running out of space. IP Version 6, the next generation Internet Protocol which provides more than 340 trillion, trillion address will connect to the billions of people not connected today and will help ensure the Internet can continue its current growth rate indefinitely.
Internet Society Nepal and Federation of Computer Associations engaged in promoting discourse around IPV6 in Nepal since many years. Internet Society Nepal had organized a two-day course on IPV6 in 2015, and both CAN Federation and ISOC Nepal have been working together to facilitate discourse on IPV6 in coming days.
Looking at the importance and advantages of IPv6. It is time for all stakeholders to consider seriously for the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. Internet service providers, software developers and related vendors in Nepal should prepare their services for IPV6 to ensure successful development. Similarly, the government should play a facilitative role for a transition. Resolution 63 (Rev. Dubai, 2014) of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has identified the part of the government in IP address allocation and facilitating the transition to IPv6 in the developing countries. In this context, our recommendation to significant stakeholders are as follows:
The regulator should involve all stakeholders and should encourage co-working between system vendors and service providers to establish the successful roll-out of IPv6 in Nepal.
The Government should ensure, wherever possible, that any systems purchased moving forward is IPv6 ready, thus minimizing the risk of stranded assets.
Service providers should start providing IPv6 to their customers and start testing various transition technologies and should reach out for technical assistance