At a press conference held yesterday, AfriNIC encouraged the continent to embrace the move to the new IPv6 Internet protocol, following the exhaustion of the pool of IPv4 addresses this year.
As of 31 January this year, the last of the IPv4 addresses have been allocated equally among the five regional Internet registries (RIRs). The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) previously allocated IP addresses based on need; as such, Africa has always been given the smallest share.
AfriNIC will be the last RIR to run out of its IPv4 addresses, due to the relatively low demand and low Internet penetration rates in Africa.
“But in the meantime, we must wake the community up, and we only have a limited time to do so. We must focus not on exhaustion, but on post-exhaustion,” said AfriNIC CEO Adiel Akplogan.
Mobile promise
Internet penetration in Africa is currently estimated to be at only 10.9%.
“There are still huge numbers of people to connect, and I believe that mobile will be what drives the uptake of the Internet in Africa.
“The mobile phone has become a critical piece of equipment, and the move to a protocol that supports them is equally critical. We cannot plan the future of the digital economy without planning for the explosion of newcomers to the Internet.”
The new IPv6 protocol will not be restricted to computers, but will rather be inclusive of a broad range of devices, including mobile phones. IPv6 addresses will consist of 128 digits.
“We are moving to a new Internet that will not only connect computers, but will connect people,” said Akplogan.
Necessary actions
As an RIR, AfricNIC says it is taking the necessary actions to ensure the continent embraces IPv6.
“We are constantly talking to governments and operators. Governments must understand how important IPv6 is, and they must take the lead and be able to provide services to those who are IPv6-ready. Operators must also assess their networks and check their IPv6 compatibilities.”
End-users also have a role to play, according to Akplogan: “If we as users don't put pressure today on our service providers and vendors, we will find ourselves in a situation where we are unable to use services and unable to access the Internet.”
According to AfriNIC, globally 7.5% of networks are IPv6-ready, and in Africa the estimate stands at 5%. “So we are not far behind the rest of the world,” says Akplogan.
African context
“In terms of allocation of IP addresses by continent, Africa has also had a very tiny slice since we were essentially the last to board the Internet train. IPv6, however, offers the chance to catch up and get on par with the rest of the world. We must embrace it.”
Despite demand still being comparatively low in Africa, AfriNIC says it has more than doubled its IPv4 allocations in the last three years. Kenya specifically has reported 100% growth in its number of IPv4 allocations.
“The Internet is not a matter of choice anymore - we have no choice, but to catch up,” says Akplogan.
AfriNic anticipates it will take a year to exhaust the last of its IPv4 addresses that Akplogan notes will take other regions less than three months to deplete.
“The tipping point for moving to IPv6 will ultimately be the benefits that it has to offer,” says Dr Viv Padayatchy, chairman of the AfriNIC board of directors.
“While a global cut-off point for the move to IPv6 would have been ideal, it is too difficult to implement given the very diverse manner in which different networks function,” explained Akplogan.
“Our core focus moving forward is awareness and capacity-building, and we are putting a lot of effort into that.”
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