LACNIC Promotes IPv6 Deployment

30/11/2020

IPv6 is no longer a technological necessity and has instead become a matter of strategy for the development of national digital initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, LACNIC CEO Oscar Robles shared during two webinars organized to promote the deployment of this protocol in the countries of the region.

In his presentations, Robles called on multiple stakeholders – government, academia, industry and users – to become involved in IPv6 deployment to accelerate the process. In this sense, he highlighted LACNIC’s contributions with efforts at various levels, including training courses for operators, companies and universities offered through the LACNIC Campus, as well as online and at face-to-face workshops, awareness-building among the community, and the permanent willingness of its technical staff to work on collaborative activities seeking to promoting IPv6.

“There are no more IPv4 addresses,” Robles stressed, “and the new IPv6 protocol offers the possibility of connecting each current and future device to the Internet.”

According to Robles, on average, the LACNIC region has a “reasonable” level of IPv6 deployment. Worldwide, the level of IPv6 deployment is 1 in 3 Internet packages, while in Latin America and the Caribbean it is 1 in 4. “There are countries in the region with levels above this average, but many others are below this number,” he added.

In his presentation, LACNIC’s CEO repeated that IPv6 is now a strategic decision, not merely a matter of technology.

First, he noted is that IPv6 allows the traceability of transactions. In other words, it makes it possible to map an IP address to a user or subscriber.

The second reason Robles mentioned is that there are no more available IPv4 addresses to connect the 300 million people that are yet to be connected in Latin America and the Caribbean. “IPv6 is a strategic necessity. If a country has a digital inclusion plan, its design will have to consider IPv6, otherwise it will not be able to connect part of its population,” he said.

The third reason is that, if there are not enough addresses to connect people, it is safe to say that there will not be enough addresses to connect the number of devices we are using today and will use in the future.

Based on research conducted by LACNIC and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), Robles observed that operators and service providers have an incomplete equation in their feasibility analysis of the project with IPv6.

We invite you to watch the recording of the webinars:

https://www.lacnic.net/4943/2/lacnic/ (in English)

https://www.lacnic.net/4942/1/lacnic/ (in Spanish)