Key internet industry groups have warned that IPv4 addresses are rapidly depleting and urge a move to IPv6.
The Number Resource Organization (NRO) has warned that less than 10% of available IPv4 addresses remain, while Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC) believes the central pool of unallocated addresses could be exhausted by late 2011.
APNIC, the registry that hands out IP addresses in the Asia-Pacific region, recently obtained an additional 33.5 million IPv4 addresses from IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. That transaction means the size of IANA's global pool of free IPv4 address space is down from 26 to 24 blocks of 16,777,216 addresses.
APNIC claims that a strong Asia Pacific ICT sector and high penetration rates for mobile internet devices globally have pushed IP address allocations ahead of forecasts. A report by Geoff Huston, Chief Scientist at the APNIC, has found that current projections that the central IANA pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses could be exhausted as early as late next year.
“New internet services – whether they be wired or wireless – need IP addresses, and
looking at how many addresses have been allocated and to which economy, can
provide a perspective of where the internet is growing and how quickly,” Huston said.
Of the 190.1 million IPv4 addresses allocated during 2009, 45.87% were allocated in the Asia Pacific, with China consuming more addresses than any other economy.