Final IPv4 addresses handed out

The Number Resource Organisation (NRO) has allocated the final blocks of the IPv4 address space to each of the five Regional Internet Registries, marking the end of the protocol on which the internet was built.

The registries were given the final IPv4 blocks at a special ceremony in Miami, and will allocate them to ISPs and businesses ahead of the transition to IPv6.

Icann chief executive Rod Beckstrom said that handing out the final allocations was a "historic occasion", and said that IPv6 will drive the internet's development.

"Today, 14 years after the creation of IPv4, the final five addresses are being allocated, marking the hugely successful growth of the internet all over the world as more people come online," he said.

"We've all heard predictions about fridges connected to internet, lights controlled from smartphones and Wi-Fi enabled in cars, and to do this the future of the internet lies with IPv6."

Organisations are being urged to tackle the switch to IPv6 as soon as possible, and independent body 6UK was launched last November with backing from the government to help transition to the new protocol.

"We will support UK Plc during this transition to help them work out what they need to do to respond to the new protocol," 6UK director Philip Sheldrake told V3.co.uk.

There are also plans for a World IPv6 Day on 8 June when major tech companies including Google, Facebook and Yahoo will enable IPv6-based networks to access their sites in an effort to drive awareness of the new protocol.

There will be little danger of the future address protocol being exhausted anytime soon, as the IPv6 system gives each address 128 bits, compared with 32 bits in the old system, meaning that IPv6 has 10 to the power 28 more addresses than IPv4.

Comparison of two address protocols:

Number of IPv4 allocations: 4,294,967,296
Number of IPv6 allocations: 340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000