Regional IPv6 Week Shows Positive, Promising Results

28/03/2012

The ‏Regional IPv6 Week held in Latin America from 6 to 12 February left an encouraging view on the use of the new Internet protocol, according to a first assessment by Antonio Moreiras, Project Manager at NIC.br, one of the event’s main organizers.

With the participation of 101 organizations, among them the largest Brazilian content (Globo.com, IG, Terra, UOL) and access providers (Telefónica) and more than 173 websites correctly operating with IPv6, this six-day test allowed increasing traffic over the new Internet protocol within the region and also served as a tool to promote IPv6.

Extending the experience to the Campus Party – a major technology festival held in Sao Paulo and attended by more than 7,000 participants – also contributed to IPv6 Week’s success. Almost 2.5% of the total traffic at this meeting was IPv6 traffic (200 Mbps IPv6 peaks and 8 Gbps IPv4 peaks).

Three times more traffic. Antonio Moreiras observed that IPv6 traffic in Brazil increased three-fold in the week during which the test was conducted, although he also added that it still represents a very small fraction of the country’s total Internet traffic. Nevertheless, the NIC.br manager emphasized that traffic increases were quite a bit more significant than during World IPv6 Day, “which shows that the regional event achieved good results and was able to attract important local participants”.

In addition to the Campus Party, Regional IPv6 Week included other highlights such as the Mendoza IPv6 Summer Day held in Argentina and the LACNIC webinars.

In Antonio Moreiras’ opinion, the future looks bright, as providers are increasingly seeking training, requesting IPv6 address blocks, deploying the new technology, and discussing alternatives to existing problems. “In summary, the rhythm of the work has accelerated”, he added.

By way of an example he mentioned NIC.br, whose IPv6 deployment schedule implies that providers must begin testing and have IPv6 transit offers ready for the corporate market by mid-2012. This schedule means that in January 2013, when IPv4 turns 30 years old, every website in Brazil – as well as other services such as email servers – will already be prepared to use IPv6.

Although NIC.br and LACNIC have long been working to create awareness and providing IPv6 technical training, Antonio Moreiras believes that this work should continue to be strengthened and expanded. He also asked to focus new efforts on a top-down approach: “We must convince company executives that now is the time to deploy”.