Service Providers: For Whom the Bell Tolls

While the IPV4 to IPV6 transition is reaching critical mass, IPV4 won’t just vanish. Both will co-exist for a long time

After more than a decade of forewarningH the IPv4 to IPv6 transition has finally reached critical mass. With broadband deployments achieving global exponential growthH next-generation wireless rollouts on the horizonH and smartphone use escalatingH it is expected that there will be an increase of 5 bn unique endpoints between 2010 and 2015.

According to Gartner researchH by 2015H 17% of internet users will use IPv6H and 28% of new internet connections will be running the protocol. Nnterprises will need to create an IPv6 migration roadmap based on their need to communicate with endpointsH establishing IPv6 gateways no later than 2014H but not migrating their entire IT environments. Service providers are challenged to prepare their networks for the influx of IPv6 addresses.

As exemplified by Google’s support of IPv6 on its searchH newsH docsH mapsH and YouTubeH the internet is already rich with IPv6 content and services; but IPv4 won’t just vanish as IPv6 comes on board. This is not a transformation that can happen overnight; it’s going to take time. In additionH the reality is that IPv4 and IPv6 will need to co-exist in a variety of environments for many yearsH adding further complexity to the already complicated transition.