It is four years since World IPv6 Launch got started and the progress we’ve seen in IPv6 deployment at all kinds of service providers around the globe has been remarkable.

Countries like Finland, The Netherlands, Brazil, Malaysia, Canada, and the UK have all seen operators make substantial strides in IPv6 deployment showing the truly global nature of the effort.

Aggregate numbers are also impressive: The percentage of users accessing Google services over IPv6 exceeded 12% earlier this month (it was less than 1% four years ago). Similarly the percentage of the Alexa Top 1000 websites that are reachable using IPv6 is now close to 20%.

Some of the greatest IPv6 deployments are now in cellular networks and for a really valuable insight into some of the numbers and ways in which this specific piece of the deployment is happening you must read Erik Nygren’s recent post for Akamai.

Up and to the right: IPv6 growth since 2012

Happy Launchiversary!

With real deployment of IPv6 happening around the world since the time of World IPv6 Launch, what does “success” look like? How much IPv6 traffic is “enough”? What are key milestones for IPv6 progress?

Those questions and more will be discussed by panelists at the Internet Society Briefing Panel at IETF 88 happening tomorrow, November 5, 2013, from 11:45-12:45 Pacific time (19:45-20:45 UTC) in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  As outlined in an Internet Society blog post, the panelists will include:

• Leslie Daigle, moderator, (Internet Society)
• John Brzozowski (Comcast Cable)
• Erik Nordmark (Arista)
• Chris Palmer (Microsoft)

The event will be streamed live via video and also streamed live via audio and also recorded for later viewing.

As noted on June 12, the official World IPv6 Launch produced some notable objective measurements of IPv6 deployment. “It’s for real” is not just a punchy tag line!

Now that the world has had some time to step back and consider the impact from several angles, the Internet Society is dedicating its standard IETF meeting “briefing panel” session to looking at some of the concrete objective takeaways. Details of the briefing panel, which will take place July 31 from 11:45am-12:45pm (PDT), are available here: http://www.internetsociety.org/isoc-panel-ietf-84 .

In selecting the panelists, I looked for people who would have a unique view into different aspects of the network. John Brzozowski (Comcast) looks at it from the end-user perspective, while Lorenzo Colitti (Google) can see the whole world as it reaches Google servers. Erik Nygren (Akamai) and George Michaelson (APNIC) have eyes in the middle of the network. Lee Howard (TWC) can step through the complexities of getting from 0 to 1% traffic over IPv6. And, as readers of this blog already know, Mat Ford (ISOC) has been keeping the overall view of measurements related to World IPv6 Launch.

I’m looking forward to seeing concrete data on deployment, reach and performance from the panelists. It’s clear that we’ve launched — how are we progressing? Are we picking up speed? What is becoming clearer as the obvious bottlenecks to further deployment and uptake?

Even more, I’m looking forward to an interactive discussion — between the panelists, and with the Internet engineers in the audience for the session — to help interpret the data and elaborate next steps for IPv6 deployment.

If you’re planning on attending the IETF meeting in Vancouver, consider attending the briefing panel in person. Otherwise, feel free to tune in to the streaming audio from the session, or have a listen when it’s posted.

Please note this is a separate registration from the regular IETF Meeting. The registration form can be found on the Internet Society’s site.

Leslie Daigle
Chief Internet Technology Officer
Internet Society
daigle@isoc.org