On the fifth anniversary of World IPv6 Launch, we’re excited to share a detailed report on the State of IPv6 Deployment in 2017. It really is staggering how far IPv6 deployment has progressed in five years. In mid-2012, Google measured less than 1% of users accessing their services over IPv6. Today that figure is getting close to 20%. Since World IPv6 Launch, several major operators are now delivering the majority of traffic from major content sources like Google, Akamai and others over IPv6. Individual operators, like T-Mobile USA, have deployed IPv6-only networks for their subscribers.
Six years ago, the Internet Society helped to organize World IPv6 Day, where thousands of ISPs and websites joined together for a successful, global-scale, 24-hour trial of IPv6. A year later, for World IPv6 Launch, major ISPs, home networking equipment manufacturers, and web companies around the world permanently enabled IPv6 for their products and services.
How much progress have we made in the five years since World IPv6 Launch?
All the details are included in our landmark report marking the launchiversary.
While you download the report and check out our other IPv6 materials, here are the highlights:
- IPv6 has increased 3000% since the beginning of World IPv6 Launch five years ago.
- Deployment is occurring around the globe: Measurements show 37 countries exceed 5% of traffic is IPv6 to major content providers.
- Over 25% of the Alexa Top 1000 websites are reachable using IPv6.
- Some networks are now IPv6-only internally (e.g. JPNE, T-Mobile USA, SoftBank), and some major networks are now majority-IPv6 (e.g. RelianceJIO, Verizon Wireless, SkyBroadcasting, XS4ALL).
- Some organizations are in the process of turning off IPv4 within their networks and/or data centers to reduce network complexity and cost (e.g. T-Mobile, Facebook, LinkedIn).
- The Internet Society’s core recommendations are to: (a) start now if you haven’t already, (b) use established RFP requirements like RIPE-554: Requirements for IPv6 in ICT Equipment, and (c) take advantage of existing IPv6 deployment information including the Internet Society’s Deploy360 Program.
IPv6 use is set to continue growing for the rest of this year and beyond as more operators start and grow their deployments around the world, and new content and hosting providers enable IPv6 for their customers. As we mark this milestone in IPv6 deployment history with this new landmark report, we wish all our readers a Happy Launchiversary!