RIPE NCC Invites Network Operators to Lunch in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Al-Khobar - KSA, 20 November 2014. On the occasion of the 16th meeting of Saudi Arabia IPv6 Task Force, The RIPE NCC invited Saudi network operators to a lunch meeting at the Sofitel hotel in Al-Khobar. The meeting was to discuss how the RIPE NCC could support their IPv6 deployment efforts and their operations in general.
IPv6 is the next generation Internet numbering protocol. Since the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses in many parts of the world, including the Middle East, networks that don't adopt IPv6 will encounter increased pressure as they grow in size. The government of Saudi Arabia represented by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has been proactive in recognising the need for IPv6 to safeguard its digital future, which led to the establishment of the Saudi IPv6 Task Force in 2008.
The hard work of the task force and of network operators appears to be paying off. Today around 18.87% of Saudi Arabian networks are announcing IPv6 prefixes into the global Internet, compared to around 9.82% in the wider Middle East region and 18.57% globally.
As a neutral, non-profit membership association, the RIPE NCC provides a range of tools and services to support the operations of the 10,986 networks, ISPs and telcos that make up its membership. And with over 20 years experience as the secretariat to the RIPE community, the RIPE NCC speaks the technical community's language and knows what kind of support network operators find valuable.
Paul Rendek, Director of External Relations at the RIPE NCC, said a lot of good work is being done in the country. “Saudi Arabia is making encouraging progress towards IPv6 deployment, and we are committed to support and help our members and network operators in the kingdom with technical expertise and services. We provide training in a range of subjects, including IPv6, and we have unique tools like RIPE Atlas and RIPEstat that have been developed in close consultation with the technical community over a number of years.”
The 16th meeting of the Saudi Arabia IPv6 Task Force, which was held in Al-Khobar on 20 November, is supported by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in the kingdom and sponsored by Sahara Net. More information about the IPv6 Task Force meeting is available online.
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