HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam is now 79th among the 258 countries using Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), said Nguyen Truong Thanh from the Viet Nam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) on Wednesday.

After implementing a national action plan on IPv6, Viet Nam is now ranked 79th among 258 countries in using the protocol. Photo via.org.vn

IPv6, which includes an improved option mechanism over IPv4, enlarges the number of IP addresses and allows electronic devices automatically to configure factors for Internet connection.

In reality, IPv4 addresses ran out in April, 2011. Therefore, countries concentrate on developing IPv6 at the same time as using IPv4. Alexa web information company's statistics show that more than seven percent of websites in the top 50 utilise IPv6.

In Viet Nam, the Ministry of Information and Communications issued a three-phase national action plan on IPv6 in 2011. It consists of preparations from 2011-12, introduction from 2013-15 and transformation from 2016-19.

In May, 2015, a national IPv6 network was set up by VNNIC.

According to Thanh, 33 organisations and enterprises registered with the centre use IPv6. He said VNNIC had held 16 training courses for 400 technical officers.

Besides, there are 35 websites with the domain name ".vn" implementing IPv6. There are also five manufacturers, including Viettel and FPT Telecom, producing IPv6 support devices.

Thanh said that IPv6 in Viet Nam was given the green light when the Government gave priority to use IPv6 for information technology projects in the State budget.

However, he also said the capacity and appearance of IPv6 in Viet Nam had limitations because there was no support for input and output devices and lack of participation of content service providers.

Thanh said that enterprises now needed to ensure they had infrastructure to support IPv4 and IPv6 at the same time. — VNS