Most service providers have allocations of IPv4 numbers they hold in reserve to assign to future broadband customers, but those
numbers are dwindling as IPv4 address space to be fully depleted in about 18 months. According to this CedMagazine report, there’s help available, but if providers drag their feet much longer, they may be on a path toward service failure.
“Merely having an adequate supply of IPv4 addresses is only half the issue. The other half is that IPv6 addresses are already coming into use, and in order to enable your customers to start connecting to whoever or whatever has an IPv6 address, you’re going to have to reconfigure your network to support IPv6, while continuing to support IPv4.
“CableLabs developed recommendations for conducting the transition, but given the lack of activity among MSOs, it recently revised them, reported Chris Donley, CableLabs’ project director, network protocols, at the SCTE Canadian Summit held in March. The transition, he said, will now have to be more abrupt.”
