KEY POINTS:
If we don't want to run out of IP addresses, New Zealand needs to follow the example of the European Union and move towards IPv6, says Internet NZ president Peter Macaulay.
The European Commission has set a target for a quarter of EU businesses, public authorities and households to use next-generation internet addresses by 2010, saying this was essential because the current network is running out of addresses.
Pushing people toward Internet Protocol version 6, or IPv6, would make available "an almost unlimited" number of web addresses just as lengthening telephone numbers allowed more phones to be plugged into the network in the last century.
The EU's internet commissioner said more addresses - the string of numbers that identify a web connection - were needed to make use of internet-enabled devices such as smart tags in shops, factories and airports as well as intelligent heating and lighting systems.
Macaulay believes that the Commission is right on track with its 2010 deadline, and advises that New Zealand follows suit.
"It's absolutely vital that we start moving that way as well, and rapidly" he said.
"There are lots of pieces already going on, but it's going to need a coordinated effort involving government and business. It takes time and it takes money.
"The way network infrastructure works it is going to require a lot of thinking, so it's important that it starts happening."
He says the State Services Commission should already be encouraging government to begin the migration towards the new protocol.
The Research and Education Advanced Network of New Zealand, which runs the KAREN network, is already using IPv6.
While many old routers and internet switches will be rendered obsolete when IPv6 becomes more widespread, Macaulay says a lot of hardware is already capable of using it.
"Most modern internet equipment like routers and switches, as well as software will be configured for IPv6 already."
The internet address system most people use now, IPv4, dates back to 1984 and provides 4.3 billion addresses. Only 700 million - or 16 per cent - are still available for new connections.
"That was when everyone thought that 4.3 billion would be more than enough," jokes Macaulay.
"The new one should give us enough for at least 30 or 40 years though."
The IPv4 roll out in the eighties was the last time that internet, in its entirety, was down, he says.
Japan's Nippon Telecom and Telegraph have already rolled out a public IPv6 network and China plans to put one in place shortly. But the US and Europe have yet to get the ball rolling.
The EU executive called on European governments to take the first move by moving their own internet networks and websites to IPv6 and by following the US in making IPv6 a condition for government contracts for website services.
"The Commission also wants the most important websites of Europe to take the lead and aims to receive commitments from at least 100 top European website operators, such as broadcasters or online news services, before the end of 2008," it said.
The EU's europa.eu website will be IPv6-ready by 2010, it promised.
Transitioning to a next-generation internet could be akin to changing the engines on a moving airplane, potentially running up billions of dollars.
But advocates say restructuring the underlying architecture will better handle security, mobility and other emerging needs.
- AP / NZ HERALD STAFF
