Overcrowded Internet running out of addresses
The spread of Internet use in Asia and the proliferation of Internet-connected phones worldwide are causing the Internet to run out of numerical addresses, which act as “phone numbers” to ensure that surfers reach websites and e-mails find their destination.
As Internet service providers run out of IPv4 addresses, they’ll have to give subscribers IPv6 addresses. The challenge lies in connecting them to websites that have only IPv4 addresses. In essence, IPv4 and IPv6 are different “languages.” Several “translation” technologies are available, but they haven’t been tested on a large scale, Curran said. That could lead to problems reaching some websites, or slow surfing.
“We’re estimating how these boxes will work, but we haven’t seen one deployed with tens of thousands of customers on it yet,” Curran said.
The “end game” – the distribution of the last five blocks – was triggered by the distribution of two of the last seven blocks on Tuesday. They went to the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, the regional registry for East Asia (including India), Australia and the Pacific islands.