A Comparison of Public Policy Approaches to the IPv4-IPv6 Transition

Abstract

IPv4 addresses are increasingly unavailable. In most areas, there is a market for addresses, which is or will be increasing the cost of providing Internet service [TCO of CGN], or driving the use of IPv4 address sharing technologies, which have well-documented limitations [rfc7021], such as interfering with peer-to-peer communication. IPv6 provides an alternative, but its adoption has been irregular, varying both by country and among web and consumer access providers. In this paper we survey countries where IPv6 adoption has been strongest, and some where it has been weak, to determine commonalities of policy or practice that have been most effective in promoting deployment of IPv6. We find evidence that government policies help in web deployment, and that IPv6 Internet access is more closely associated with a single company or small group. We also offer evidence that small groups are the most successful at raising deployment among both web and ISP measures.

Keywords: IPv6, policy