Only five per cent of IPv4 addresses remain

Just five per cent of IPv4 addresses remain as Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) continue to allocate their final few blocks of the address space to meet the growing number of internet users around the world.

APNIC, the RIR for the Asia Pacific region, has just been assigned two blocks of IPv4 addresses by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, meaning that the number of available blocks has fallen again.

There are now 12 blocks of IPv4 addresses left, five of which will be distributed to the five RIRs, while the remaining seven will be handed out as normal, potentially spelling trouble for organisations unprepared for the switch.

"We are down to five per cent of IPv4 and are really on the threshold of the internet's future. Those than don't step forward will be left behind," said Axel Pawlik, chairman of the Number Resource Organisation.

"It could be the case that many businesses are ready and have preparations in place, but if not, and demand for the remaining addresses spells the end sooner than we imagine, they could face problems and even lose customers as they are cut off."

The rapid depletion of the address space, which has fallen from 10 per cent in January, means that it is expected to be used up by 2012, so the onus is on organisations to move to the new IPv6 addresses.

However, while the RIRs expect to distribute over 2,000 IPv6 address blocks in 2010, 70 per cent more than in 2009, Pawlik warned that this is still far lower than required, and that businesses need to act now to ensure that they are not affected next year.

"If organisations don't put plans in place in the next few weeks they will face problems next year. They should decide on the plans now to give themselves time to implement the changes to ensure there are no problems next year," he said.

"I don't know why people don't take IPv6 now instead of IPv4. It could be that it's just easier to stick with the technology that everyone knows, but I am concerned that organisations will be left behind if they don't address this issue."