Verio to offer IPv6 in U.S.

Verio today became the first major American service provider to offer the next generation protocol IP version 6 over its global backbone, building on the platform’s initial success in Asia and the Pacific Rim.

IPv6 builds on the IPv4 standard that dominates the Internet today, providing more security, more efficient routing on local area networks and, most importantly, exponentially increases the amount of available IP addresses on the Internet today. Because of the sheer volume of devices expected to become “end-points” on the Internet--everything from mobile phones to electric meters to home security systems--the available number of 12-digit IP addresses is rapidly dwindling. IPv6 solves the problem along with dealing with local area network routing and addressing issues that have plagued IT staffs since IPv4’s inception.

NTT Communication, Verio’s parent company, has deployed a global IPv6 backbone and plans to offer commercial services to U.S. customers by the end of the year. A pre-commercial trial-service is available immediately however, either as a native service for customers in Los Angeles, Washington, and San Francisco or as a tunneling service anywhere Verio offers IPv4.

Enterprises have been slow to come over to IPv6 in the U.S. despite its obvious benefits, said Stan Barber, vice president of engineering operations for Verio’s broadband business unit. In Europe and Asia, IPv6 has enjoyed more success because global IP addresses are in much higher demand while that pressure isn’t as evident in North America, he said. Several government agencies, such as the Department of Defense, and numerous universities have deployed their own IPv6 equipment, but so far no major ISP or carrier has made the service available commercially, Barber said.

“I wouldn’t characterize it as reluctance on U.S. customers’ part,” Barber said. “We think availability is the problem and now we’re making it available. Still, the U.S. won’t migrate to IPv6 overnight. It will gradually gain acceptance and as the v6 cloud gets bigger, more and more customers will move over to it.”