There were indications at the August meeting of the New Zealand IPv6 Task Force of a build up of momentum around IPv6 - the next-generation Internet addressing protocol.
The IPv6 Survey of the top 100 CIOs being undertaken by InternetNZ has received a stronger response than the inaugural survey last year. At the time of the meeting 36 had been received from email requests. Last year a total of 33 was received and that had included a lot of phoning around. The survey will be continued into early September before being analysed.
Discussion of the survey always brings up discussion of other surveys that could or should be done, including of ISPs, content providers and integrators. An general ISP survey is undertaken by the Department of Statistics each year that includes an IPv6 question.
Convenor Murray Milner noted initiatives in India, where there is a more command and control approach to the issue than we have in New Zealand and deadline setting. He also noted Tony Hain’s analysis that there is less time than people think for IPv4 runnout. A IPv6 World Congress is to take place in Paris, endorsed by the global IPv6 Forum.
There was significant media interest locally in IPv6 last month with a number of IPv6 Task Force members stepping up to the plate for media interviews. ISPs told the media they are ready or almost ready.
The new IPv6 Coordinator Grant Symonds is beginning a process of identifying the IPv6 status and requirements of various organisations, starting with Task Force members and then going wider to ISPs, carriers, system integrators and content providers. Information, aggregated where necessary, will be posted on the website.
There was again discussion about certification, with the concept put forward of external and internal milestones. The external milestones tend to be clear-cut and measurable but don’t recognise all the progress that happens beforehand. Internal milestones are more important at this stage, such as there being a sponsor for adoption within a company, training completed, a produrement policy and a review of applications for embedded IPv4 addresses.
The Australian’s have an issue with respect to IPv6 numbers with 100 contracts being held up with APNIC. This needs to be explored to see if there is a related issue in New Zealand.
And finally, the issue of consumer equipment compatibility was raised. Conversations need to be held with importers. At least one telco is working with a manufacturer to ship a dual stack consumer product in New Zealand this year.
The next Task Force meeting will be held on Monday 4 October.