Successful IPv6 Deployment in Guyana
August 1, 2022
Driven by the local technical community, the efforts of one of the country’s major operators, and LACNIC’s support in the form of strategic visits and training activities, Guyana has started leveraging the value offered by IPv6.
Thus, this Caribbean country has accelerated IPv6 deployment to keep in step with the strong growth of the local economy and the country’s development.
But what were the reasons behind this decision? Given IPv4 exhaustion, the technical staff at Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) realized that the only way to continue to create and increase connectivity in their country was through the significant expansion of IPv6.
Guyana has been successful to the point that, today, 23% of users have IPv6, a significant increase over the last three months compared to the numbers just three years ago (0%). GTT —Guyana’s largest telecommunications and technology provider offering mobile, broadband, fixed, enterprise, and wholesale services— has played a key role in achieving those numbers. Decision makers representing various sectors of Guyana, such as government and academia, have also played a relevant role.
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Some time ago, many of these actors received a visit from LACNIC CEO Oscar Robles and Kevon Swift, the organization’s Head of Public Security. During each of his meetings with politicians, regulators, government officials, and representatives of telecommunications companies and Internet access providers, Robles stressed that Internet quality and development go hand in hand with IPv6.
Gas, oil, and the Internet. In 2015, Guyana discovered gas and oil in its territory and went from being one of the least developed countries in the Caribbean to achieving impressive economic growth, which has been accompanied by an expansion of the Internet. IPv6 deployment has happened at both corporate and residential level, Swift said.
Maheswar Kataroo, Senior Network Engineer and responsible for IPv6 deployment at GTT, found that the biggest obstacle to deploying IPv6 in their country was the technical community’s lack of familiarity with this new protocol. “Some people believe that managing IPv6 is like managing IPv4.” However, given the new frontiers and the need to improve connectivity in Guyana, the lack of IPv4 resources, and prior exposure to talks on IPv6, technical professionals such as Maheswar and others at GTT decided to receive training on specific topics such as transition tools, which would facilitate their goals of expanding and maintaining their networks. Now, he is a promoter of resources such as the courses offered on the LACNIC Campus.