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The growth of new Internet technologies could lead to an IP address crunch - unless the Government and industry push migration to Ipv6, which offers other advantages too.

LESS SPACE leads to a squeeze... Vino John

Imagine a situation when one day you sit to surf the Internet and your computer won't log on to the World Wide Web. Or if you are a subscriber of Internet Protocol Television, think of a day when your TV screen goes blank. Or if you are into checking e-mails on your mobile phone, what if you suddenly can't access your mail box?

This doomsday scenario could be a reality, especially with the proliferation of Internet protocol-based systems and applications across the country over the next 4-5 years. Read on if you want to know how.

With the increasing Internet penetration in the country, and newer devices, applications and services being deployed, there is a greater demand for IP addresses from Internet users. IP addresses, to put it simply, are like your telephone numbers whereby each wireless device using the Internet is given an exclusive number. The demand for IP addresses will soon reach an all-time high with new broadband technologies such as 3G and Wi-MAX making their way into the Indian market.

TRAI sounds alarm

The problem is that the existing version of Internet protocol, IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) seems to be lagging behind in catering to these newer challenges globally. "No one expected that the 32-bit IPv4 address space might become insufficient to accommodate the future needs of users of what was then a small research network. But by the mid-1990s, the steadily increasing demand for IP addresses pressurised the remaining supply. Many experts have started predicting that the available IPv4 addresses would last for only a few years more," says the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), sounding the alarm bell.

Therefore international giants such as HP, Cisco, NEC, Nokia, NTT, Ericsson, Sony, British Telecom, Matsushita, Microsoft, and a host of other companies around the globe have collectively spent hundreds of millions of dollars testing and integrating a new protocol called the IPv6.

"While IPv6 may be a network protocol, its impact on the consumer and enterprise sectors will be quietly significant. The Internet is impacting almost every sector of the economy. Its high rate of adoption, coupled with the fact that IPv4 is reaching its technological limits, has created an environment not all that dissimilar to Y2K. The critical difference is that the transition to IPv6 will not happen at the stroke of midnight," says a paper from the IPv6 Forum.

Inaction, despite discussions

IPv6 has enough space to give a unique IP address to each individual on earth. However, in India, despite discussions over the last four years on migrating from IPv4 to IPv6, not many steps havebeen taken, either by the operators or by the administrators. Though the Government had set up an Interagency IPv6 Implementation Group and also a pilot project for IPv6 test bed through ERNET, after almost 18 months, nothing much has come out of these exercises yet. The Internet Service Providers (ISPs), on the other hand, say that the cost of migrating is too huge. "IPv6 is not a priority since the ISPs are not very well convinced about the business case in investing in a new network. Most ISPs feel that the threat of IP addresses running out in India is not a reality," says Amitabh Singhal, Director, Telxess Consulting Services Pvt Ltd.

Addresses, and more

TRAI, which had recently proposed several measures to encourage deployment of IPv6, says that there is more to the technology than merely increasing IP address space. "Though the primary motivation for the deployment of IPv6 is to expand the available address space on the Internet, in addition, being an advanced technology, it brings many advantages to the users, including better quality of service and mobility, faster routing capabilities and more secure network. All these are important because India is on the verge of deploying broadband technologies such as third generation services," says a TRAI official.

ISPs want incentives

ISPs want incentives if they are to deploy the new technology. "The cost associated with the IPv6 enablement could go approximately up to 30 per cent of equipment cost in many cases, a major part being in software upgradation. The Government could ensure that the additional cost required to migrate from Ipv4 to Ipv6 should be partially offset by waiving off customs and other duties on the software and hardware required for this migration," says a Delhi-based ISP. Agrees the IPv6 Forum: "regarding procurement of new equipment or new software, the Government should introduce incentives in a phased manner to the vendor or procurer, or both, to have it IPv6 ready. This would catalyse the remainder of hardware and software to be enabled with IPv6."

Global examples

Globally, a number of countries such as Japan, Korea, China, the European Union and the US have set up national IPv6 networks to enable network operators and software developers to get a hands-on feel of this technology. ISPs in India point out that most of the international initiatives have been the result of the support given by the respective Governments.

For instance, in 2002-2003, the Japanese Government created a tax credit programme that exempted the purchase of IPv6-capable routers from corporate and property taxes. The Japanese Government also sponsored an IPv6 promotion council, which was allocated $70 million for IPv6 research and development. But the Indian Government seems to be in no mood to cough up any financial incentive. Even TRAI has ruled out any fiscal support though it has suggested that the Government should take the initiative since the operators do not find a viable business case in deploying IPv6.

ISPAI strikes middle path

Striking a middle path, the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) has suggested that if the Government is not willing to give financial support to private operators, it could make it mandatory, as an encouragement for IPv6 deployment, that all the e-governance applications developed through Government initiative should be IPv6 ready. This would ensure that the subsequent developmental migration does not put any strain on the outflow of the exchequer and more service providers are motivated to migrate towards IPv6, says the ISPAI, a view that has found favour with the TRAI. "We have said that usage of IPv6 in the applications pertaining to e-governance should be mandated. The Government should also mandate IPv6 compatibility in its own procurement of IT systems and networks," says a TRAI official. The telecom regulator has also suggested that the existing IPv6 test bed of ERNET should be expanded to make its nodes available in all major cities for access to all the interested parties. "ISPs need to experiment with IPv6 and conduct trials to get hands-on experience before deploying this technology in their networks.

For this purpose an IPv6 test bed/platform is required to which such ISPs can connect to conduct the trials for their traffic flow," say TRAI recommendations made to the Government in January 2006.

But a year later, the Government, which incidentally has declared 2007 as the year of broadband, is yet to take a call on these suggestions. Will India join the international momentum in gearing up for putting in place an Internet technology that offers more space, reliability and security or will users face a doomsday scenario? The ball is in the Government's court.

tkt@thehindu.co.in

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