The Organization of American States (OAS) Approves a New Recommendation on IPv6
June 13, 2019
The Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) recently approved a new recommendation for OAS member countries to require that any new equipment marketed and/or purchased in their territories must be compatible with the IPv6 protocol.
Approved based on a series of technical documents submitted by LACNIC to CITEL’s Permanent Consultative Committee, this measure seeks to facilitate the deployment of this technology in Latin America and the Caribbean now that IPv4 addresses have been exhausted in the region. The initiative also seeks to avoid the potential introduction of equipment that does not support IPv6 and is therefore considered technological waste into the region.
César Díaz, Head of Strategic Relations and Telecommunications at LACNIC and one of the articulators of the CITEL recommendation, pointed out that representatives of the countries participating in this working group had agreed with the recommendation.
While “each country is sovereign in deciding based on these recommendations, these technical documents serve to support and encourage” the promotion of IPv6 deployment, said Diaz.
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After IPv4 address exhaustion, the IPv6 protocol is the only way to support Internet growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, nine out of ten LACNIC member organizations have received IPv6 resources, although less than half (42%) are using them in their networks.
The recommendation allows the countries of the region to open the door to working together on the development of critical Internet infrastructure, proposing new ways to encourage technical development and analyzing potential contributions for IPv6 deployment together with the governments, Díaz added.
In addition, the document admits that the exhaustion of IPv4 resources limits the possibility of assigning IP addresses —which are key to Internet growth and development— as well as the implementation of solutions for what has come to be known as the Internet of Things (IoT), which requires larger amounts of numbering resources and for which IPv6 offers a solution.