IPv6 as the norm, not the exception
The Netherlands' slow adoption could ultimately be harmful to its innovation climate
Dutch people are justifiably proud of their country's digital infrastructure and the fact that, despite being small, the Netherlands has played a pioneering role in the internet's development. In AMS-IX, Amsterdam has one of the world's biggest and most influential internet exchanges, for example. However, if the Netherlands is going to retain its leading position, it urgently needs to implement a number of technological changes. One of the most important being migration to IPv6.
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For anyone who doesn't know what IPv6 is, let me start with a little background info. The current internet addressing system, IPv4, is creaking at the seams. The total number of addresses that can be created using IPv4 is about 4.3 billion. However, the world already has many more than 4.3 billion devices needing internet connections. To get around that, a system of 'network address translation', NAT, was developed, which allows multiple users and devices to share a single address. However, NAT is far from perfect. For one thing, NAT-enabled connections are slower. Address sharing also complicates the business of preventing internet crime. When a single IP is used by an entire street or even a whole neighbourhood, how do you tell who is behind an unlawful activity? And how can you block an address if numerous innocent users are going to be affected as well as the troublemaker?
2^128
In order to resolve the problems with IPv4, a new addressing protocol was developed: IPv6. While IPv4 makes use of 32 bits (giving 2^32=4.3 billion possible addresses), IPv6 uses a massive 128 bits, opening the way for creating a practically infinite number of addresses (2^128). The new system therefore eliminates the IP address shortage at a stroke. However, there's a significant fly in the ointment: IPv4 and IPv6 don't mix. If an internet user has an IPv6 connection, they can't visit a website that only has an IPv4 address (and vice versa). A system that doesn't allow you to access large parts of the internet is clearly of limited value. So, until a substantial mass of internet users and websites support IPv6, the new protocol has to operate alongside the old one. Once IPv6 has secured a critical mass, the process of phasing out IPv4 can begin.
Netherlands lags behind
So far, IPv6 adoption has been progressing more slowly in the Netherlands than in neighbouring countries. Roughly a quarter of Dutch internet connections are IPv6-enabled on the user side, but in Germany 50 per cent support the protocol and in Belgium the figure is 57 per cent. Further afield, the US and India are also well ahead of the Netherlands, with 58 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively. In time, the Netherlands' slow adoption could be harmful to its innovation climate. Startups and innovative tech companies tend to choose locations with excellent digital infrastructures, and that implies support for IPv6. If the choice is between a location where IPv6 adoption is 25 per cent and one where it's 50 per cent, it could make all the difference. What's more, the current situation will be unsustainable when 5G gets up and running. When people start using applications that depend on the high speeds provided by 5G -- self-driving cars and remote surgery, for example -- the focus will inevitably shift to eliminating every possible delay.
"If we wait for the access providers to get moving with IPv6, it may well be too late."
Access providers
Major internet access providers, such as KPN, Ziggo and T-Mobile, have a key role to play in boosting the adoption of IPv6 in the Netherlands. And, although some of them do provide partial IPv6 support, the country's big access providers remain reluctant to make the new-style IP addresses widely available. T-Mobile has even said that, because there is insufficient customer demand for IPv6, they see no reason to roll out the protocol. In short, if we wait for the access providers to get moving with IPv6, it may well be too late. And, because the Netherlands' status as a centre for innovation is at stake, the Dutch government needs to intervene. Compulsion would be inappropriate, but encouragement for the use of IPv6 is certainly in order. The protocol's use is already actively promoted within the public sector, and it's now time to extend the scope of promotion to include the private sector as well. Because the sooner major service providers enable IPv6, the sooner we will reach the tipping point where IPv6 becomes the norm, rather than the exception. Roelof Meijer, CEO SIDN This opinion piece was originally published on Computabel on 8 May.
