That is the view of Erik Huizer, Scientific Director at TNO Information and Communication Technology and part-time professor of Internet Applications at the University of Utrecht. As chairman of the Dutch national IPv6 Task Force, which was set up in 2005 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Erik Huizer has emphasised for many years the need to adopt IPv6 soon. He is in the company of, among others, Vint Cerf, one of the founders of Internet and Vice President of Google, who issued an unmistakeable warning a year ago.
'In the foreseeable future there will be a time when it won’t be possible to start up new websites, gain access to certain sites or obtain a new e-mail address. Initially it was predicted that IP addresses would run out in 2005. Improved allocation methods delayed this until 2028, but now the experts think it may happen in 2011 or 2012. The message for companies and public-sector organisations is: make haste. The government should play a strong role in promoting this.'

Government action on market failure

Earlier this year, the European Commission formulated the goal that twenty-five percent of businesses, the public sector and households should be using IPv6 by 2010. In the United States and Japan, the public sector only does business with suppliers of hardware and software that is compatible with IPv6. According to Erik Huizer, the Dutch government should follow this example.

'Actually the ISPs are the crucial factor in this, because they are the link between all Internet users. Unfortunately, IPv6 is a largely a negative business model for them. It costs money but it doesn’t bring in any new customers. Luckily, ISPs such as XS4ALL, followed by others, recognised the need and the positive aspects of IPv6 early on, and they have invested in it. But that isn’t enough. This is clearly a question of market failure and the government has to take action. That can be done without regulation. As an information provider, regulator, network manager and customer, the government should ensure that IPv6 is soon commonplace in the Netherlands.'

More serious than Y2K

As a centre of expertise and driver of innovation, TNO plays a role on various fronts when it comes to supporting public-sector organisations and companies in the transition to IPv6. Consultations are under way with the EU to establish how TNO, as an independent institute, can help to achieve the goal before 2010. For KPN, the operator of the Dutch telecom network - and, with several brands, the largest ISP in the Netherlands - TNO is assessing whether the network and architecture, including all hardware and software, is fully compatible with IPv6. In the test centres at TNO, current networks can be tested for this purpose with any conceivable brand of equipment that end users may have at home or in the workplace. TNO is also working on a checklist that companies and institutions of any size can use to see which steps they still have to take. ‘Research carried out by Google has shown that, outside office hours, many private individuals are already experimenting with IPv6. They are even ahead of the business world. Ten years ago, everyone was worrying about the millennium problem, but this is more serious than many people think.’