Time to Deploy IPv6 - Governments Urged To Lead Progression Towards European Targets

Amsterdam, 17 February, 2009 - Detlef Eckert, senior advisor in the Directorate General Information Society and Media of the European Commission (EC), is today emphasising the crucial role of EU governments in leading the way to IPv6 migration, at a roundtable meeting for governments and regulators, hosted by the RIPE NCC. Attended by over 50 key delegates from 20 countries, the event will see Eckert highlight the important role of governments and organisations to start planning and acting now for the transition to IPv6.

Eckert explains: "Deployment of IPv6 is urgent as the Internet is effectively running out of IPv4 addresses. Adoption of IPv6 holds many challenges, and uptake to date has been slow, partly due to the fact that too many industry players take a wait and see attitude. Organisations and companies are not being sufficiently motivated to transition to the new Internet Protocol as they don't see enough immediate benefits. However from a societal and economic perspective the advantages of a fast uptake are significant. It is therefore essential for the public sector to take the long term view and decide on ways to intervene by leading IPv6 implementation."

In May 2008, the EC proposed that the Member States work together to achieve widespread IPv6 adoption. It set out an ambitious target that 25 per cent of users should be able to connect to the Internet over IPv6 by 2010. The EC has committed to use IPv6, and has subsequently launched a number of projects, including a study to measure progress in IPv6 usage over the next two years. There is active planning taking place in some Member States and the EC is working to provide support to generate synergy across the European Union.

Axel Pawlik, Managing Director at the RIPE NCC summarises, "We view governments as key players in Internet growth and urge them to play their part in the deployment of IPv6 and in particular to lead by example in making content available in IPV6. Ultimately, we urge that the widespread deployment of IPv6 be made a high priority by all stakeholders."

Notes to Editors

About the RIPE NCC

Founded in 1992, the RIPE NCC is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet. The most prominent activity of the RIPE NCC is to act as a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) providing global Internet resources and related services to a current membership base of around 6100 members in 75 countries.

These members consist mainly of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunication organisations and large corporations located in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia.

As one of the world's five RIRs, the RIPE NCC performs a range of critical functions including:

• The reliable and stable allocation of Internet number resources (IPv4, IPv6 and AS Number resources)
• The responsible storage and maintenance of this registration data
• The provision of an open, publicly accessible database where this data can be accessed.

The RIPE NCC also provides a range of technical and coordination services for the Internet community. These services include the operation of K-root (one of the 13 root name server clusters), the Deployment of Internet Security Infrastructure (DISI) and DNS Monitoring (DNSMON).

As a result of its established position in the Internet industry, the RIPE NCC has played an important role in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), European Union (EU) workshops and government briefings on key issues in the current Internet landscape.

More information about the RIPE NCC is available at: www.ripe.net

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