Bkav security company introduces its SmartHome product on the sidelines of a conference on IPv6 held on May 6 in Ha Noi. The product is developed to support IPv6. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Eleven out of 18 Internet providers have connected with the national Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) network, after it came into operation from May 6 last year.

The information was provided by Nguyen Truong Thanh, director of the technical department from the Viet Nam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC), at a conference on May 6 in Ha Noi.

The event is part of the country's activities organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) to summarise its achievements in boosting transition from IPv4 to IPv6 and popularise IPv6 supporting devices.

Thanh said that there are six enterprises in Viet Nam manufacturing supporting devices for IPv6 such as Viettel and VNPT. Nevertheless, he also expressed his concerns about the lack of domestic firms developing software for IPv6 and local companies manufacturing terminal devices.

Year 2014 is considered a hinge year for the second phase of MIC's national action plan for IPv6. The ministry was the first organisation to implement IPv6 on its online portal at www.mic.gov.vn.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang said that in the first quarter of this year, the ministry had asked the task force to carry out its main duties, including issuing a set of standards for IPv6 and building a roadmap to import devices for IPv6 into Viet Nam. He also referred to Decree No. 72 of the government regulating IPv6 as advanced technology, with priority for investment and development. Activities relating to research, production and importing devices and software for IPv6 would receive preferential treatment and support as written in the High Technology Law, he said.

Tomohiro Fujisaki, from Japan Network Information Center, said that in Japan, fixed line Internet service providers offered commercial IPv6 service not only to enterprises but also to consumers. Its big mobile operators such as NTT Docomo and KDDI also provided IPv6 service in their 3G networks.

Not only Japan but other countries in the world have also seen an increasing number of consumers using IPv6. Since launching IPv6 on June 6, 2012, there have been 21,500 websites, including Facebook, Google and Yahoo, implementing IPv6. In the United States, the rate of IPv6 usage increased from 0.9 per cent to seven per cent to date. In the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, Singapore and Australia have gained remarkable results.

According to the ministry's action plan, Viet Nam will finish its introduction period in 2015 and move to a transition period from 2016 to 2019.

In preparation, programmers of content providers and Internet service providers attended a training course on programming based on IPv6, receiving instruction from Malaysian experts, from May 5-7. Along with the conference, the course will help enterprises and organisations to build and implement IPv6 applications. — VNS