PRESS RELEASE

A workshop on the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 organised by the ICT Authority is to be held on 22 September 2011 at The Link – Ebene City Hotel. The main objective of this workshop is to flag out the outcome of a public consultation exercise on this topic which was held in March 2011. The findings of this exercise are already posted on the Authority’s website (www.icta.mu). 

The workshop will be officially opened by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Hon. Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum and resource persons from different stakeholder groups will address the audience.

Internet Protocol, or IP, is the "language" spoken across the Internet. The version of IP currently in use (IPv4) offers around 4.3 billion addresses and is nearing exhaustion. Considering the world population is already around 7 billion and the explosive growth in mobile devices including mobile phones, notebook computers, and wireless handheld devices, there is a need for additional blocks of IP addresses which cannot be catered for under the present IPv4 address pool. IPv6 which offers a virtually inexhaustible address pool is the new version designed to expand the number of IP addresses available. The deployment of IPv6 networks is growing worldwide. Full replacement of IPv4 is expected to take some time, as it remains the most widely used Internet Protocol. Several European countries, Japan, United States, China, and India are leading recent deployments of the IPv6 protocol.

One of the main recommendations resulting from the public consultation exercise pertains to the setting up of a National IPv6 Task Force to look into key IPv6 issues. This Task Force is expected to come out with a National Plan defining a series of measures to promote the gradual adoption of the IPv6 protocol in Mauritius so that it exists in tandem with the IPv4. These measures will be instrumental to guarantee the Mauritian society’s right to Internet access for the future. It is expected at the end of the workshop, a clear cut roadmap will be chartered out in terms of the modus operandi of the National IPv6 Task Force.

20 September 2011