IPv6: Uruguay Ranked Among the World’s Top 5

30/01/2018

Uruguay has jumped from one of the lowest positions on the ranking and become one of the world’s top five countries in terms of residential IPv6 adoption (https://www.aelius.com/njh/google-ipv6/ ).

To reach this place, Uruguay has come a long way.  ANTEL, the main local Internet Service Provider, was one of the first organizations with which LACNIC began its efforts to deploy IPv6 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Back in 2005, Montevideo welcomed one of the first IPv6 Tours organized by LACNIC, which was co-hosted by ANTEL, who played a notable role in this event.

Since then, ANTEL has worked intensely to achieve these results.

Carlos Martínez, Chief Technology Officer at LACNIC, recalled those days in 2005. Back then he was working with ANTEL, Uruguay’s state-owned telecommunications company. “I believe that IPv6 Tour was one of the first steps in promoting IPv6 adoption in the country,” he commented while analyzing the current success of ANTEL in terms of IPv6 deployment.

ANTEL requested its first IPv6 address block for the event. Guillermo Cicileo of LACNIC was among the event’s presenters. “In those days, it was quite difficult to achieve things which seem relatively simple today, such as configuring IPv6 networks – the equipment available at the time did not support IPv6 and had to be obtained from external providers,” said Martínez.

Daniel Fuentes, Vice-President of ANTEL, said that when he had the idea of setting up an IPv6 pilot in 2005 “there was no doubt in our mind and we quickly decided to embark on the project with the clear purpose of learning in a controlled environment and later expanding the pilot to the entire network.”

Building on the lessons learned during that initial experience, ANTEL developed a more ambitious project to progressively renew fixed and mobile network equipment as well as customer devices. This has allowed Uruguay to have one of the top five IPv6 penetration levels worldwide.

Fuentes also noted that IPv6 deployment has benefited their customers. For instance, together with new mobile network technologies, its IPv6 development has left ANTEL very well positioned for the rapid deployment of IoT (Internet of Things) services. “These new services will allow us to bring to the market solutions that will improve people’s quality of life or increase a company’s productivity and lower their costs,” he added.

For this reason, the LACNIC event held in 2005 is considered a milestone that promoted the local development of this new technology.

“The positive effect of this IPv6 Tour is reflected in the current reality,” observed Cicileo, who has been in permanent touch with ANTEL’s experts through new training activities or at LACNIC events, as the Uruguayan company has played a prominent role in the regional RIR’s meetings.