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MINSK, 11 October (BelTA) – There are no hindrances that may prevent the assimilation of the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in Belarus, BelTA learned from Maxim Burtikov, Director for External Relations at the Regional Internet Registry for Europe Network Coordination Center (RIPE NCC).

Each device connected to the World Wide Web is assigned a numerical label aka IP address. According to Maxim Burtikov, when the network architecture was initially envisaged, only 4.3 billion unique identifiers were available. At present the number of devices used by Internet users and the number of resources on the Web exceeds the figure. Respectively Internet service providers in some countries experience the shortage of IP addresses for their own subscribers. Many ISPs deal with the problem by giving the same IP address to several subscribers via Network Address Translation or NAT. The situation is worse in the countries, which joined the Internet race too late. The situation with the shortage of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses in Belarus is normal in current conditions when no more IPv4 addresses are available.

IPv6 can offer trillions of unique addresses and can resolve the problem of the shortage of IPv4 addresses. The expert disproved beliefs that deploying IPv6 is a costly proposition. A wide choice of IPv6 compliant telecommunication equipment is available on the market at reasonable prices. The Belarusian national telecommunication infrastructure operator Beltelecom and the Belarusian mobile carrier MTS are already testing IPv6 solutions. “There is one important thing to consider: user devices — phones, modems — have to be quite modern in order to support the new protocol,” explained Maxim Burtikov.

The introduction of the IPv6 protocol was discussed during the Internet Week in Minsk as part of the RIPE NCC / ENOG (Eurasia Network Operators) Regional Meeting. During the meeting Internet experts are expected to share the best practices, discuss the most important matters of the regional and international Internet communities. The meeting in Minsk gathered over 230 specialists from Eastern Europe and Asia. The Eastern Europe DNA Forum is scheduled for 12-13 October. It will be dedicated to discussing domain industry matters. The event will be held in association with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

RIPE NCC is the regional Internet registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia. It is a not-for-profit organization that allocates and registers blocks of Internet number resources to Internet service providers (ISPs) and other organizations in addition to supporting Internet infrastructure through technical coordination in its service region.