BBC NEWS | Technology | EU calls for net address upgrade
Posted on: May 31, 2008
Work to migrate Europe to the net’s new addressing system must speed up, says the European Commission.
The call to action is contained in a plan sent to the European Parliament urging governments and top websites in the region to head the migration.
It warns that internet-based innovation could be derailed as the current pool of addresses is used up.
The plan sets a target of 25% of net users in the EU to be using the new system by 2010.
Aiding innovation
“This is very much a case of a stitch in time saves nine,” said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the information society, in a statement unveiling the plan.
Ms Reding said futuristic technologies already being adopted, such as smart tags, intelligent street lighting and heating systems, were already projected to boost demand for IP addresses 1,000-fold – perhaps beyond the current system’s ability to cope.
Europe could face a “crisis” when the older system ran out of addresses, she warned.
Currently, Version 4 of the Internet Protocol (IPv4) is used to ensure that data travelling across the net reaches the right destination.
The IPv4 scheme makes available about 4.3 billion addresses – a total predicted to run out in 2011.
By contrast, Version 6 of this scheme (IPv6) provides, in effect, an unlimited number of addresses.
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