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The Department of Telecom has prepared a Rs 30-crore plan to deploy the new Internet Protocol version across the country by March 2012. The plan includes setting up trial laboratories and training modules to create awareness about the new protocol.
Called Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the new standard will offer improved address space, quality of service and data security capabilities. The existing standard, IPv4, is getting choked and expected to run out of space soon as consumers increasingly use broadband and Net services on mobile devices.
IPv6 is expected to remove the limitations pertaining to IP addresses that are prevalent in the current regime. Under IPv4, India has been allocated only two lakh addresses. This is one of the biggest constraints to the adoption of intelligent IP-based network applications and devices within the country. The DoT had earlier announced that all private operators will migrate to IPv6 by December 2011. Government departments and PSUs have been given time till March 2012.
BSNL gets Rs 52 lakh
As part of the implementation, the DoT has given Rs 52 lakh to BSNL to conduct 26 IPv6 awareness workshops across the country. Officials from various Central and State departments will be given training on the new Internet Protocol. Another Rs 10 crore is being given to BSNL for setting up laboratories to give demonstrations and hands-on experience on how the new protocol works.
In addition, the DoT is considering giving financial support to Government departments to appoint consultants who will help in working out the roadmap for migrating to IPv6. The DoT will part fund the consultant's cost and has proposed about Rs 16 crore for this scheme. To showcase the importance and effectiveness of the new protocol, it wants to show case BSNL headquarters, office of the Department of IT and few other key buildings as a proof of concept so that other Government departments can see it working. It has also proposed a number of pilot projects in healthcare and e-education to demonstrate IPv6.
Shortage of IPv4
The transition to the new protocol is crucial because worldwide there is a shortage of IPv4 addresses. The last blocks of approximately 16m IPv4 addresses each has been allocated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to each of the Regional Internet Registries. Currently, more than 95 per cent of the operators worldwide run on the older version of Internet technology — IPv4, which has been around since the 1980s. Since the number of mobile phones, smart devices and gadgets have proliferated over the last five years, the demand for IP addresses has also increased.
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