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China To Run Out of IPv4 Addresses In 830 Days

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the blame-canada dept.

JagsLive writes "China is running out of IP addresses unless it makes the switch to IPv6. According to the China Internet Network Information Center, under the current allocation speed, China's IPv4 address resources can only meet the demand of 830 more days and if no proper measures are taken by then, new Chinese netizens will not be able to gain normal access to the Internet. Li Kai, director in charge of the IP business for CNNIC's international department, says that if a netizen wants to get access to the Internet, an IP address will be necessary to analyze the domain name and view the pages. At present, most of the networks in China use IPv4 addresses. As a basic resource for the Internet, the IPv4 addresses are limited and 80% of the final allocation IP addresses have been used."

4 of 619 comments (clear)

  1. Normal 'net access? by i.r.id10t · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Do any Chinese citizens even have "normal" 'net access now? Thought NAT was used heavily, not to mention the GFWOC

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    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
  2. HP by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Interesting
    When HP acquired Compaq, HP also got DEC's /8 block of IP4 addresses. Now HP has at least two /8 blocks of IP4 addresses.
    .

    C'mon HP, be a good netizen and give back the bulk of those IP addresses. Try using NAT instead of hoarding IP addresses that others so desperately need.

    1. Re:HP by fprintf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sorry, I should have previewed!

      If I were HP (or Ford or AT&T), I wouldn't be a good "netizen" before giving consideration to what the blocks of /8 addresses are worth. If they wait another 365 days or so, perhaps folks will start getting desperate enough to pay for them. Can you imagine the value those addresses will have to a rapidly expanding internet enabled population, like China, that also has the means to pay for it? It might be a whole lot cheaper for China to buy the blocks than implementing iPv6, even at an exorbitant, over-the-barrel rates HP might be able to get.

      On the other hand, what is being a good player in the internet enabled worth anyway? Is there some intrinsic value in being good, or using the Google philosophy "Don't be evil"?

      I say hold out for a while.

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  3. In other news by augustz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Slashdot runs it's 15th story about IP addresses running out "real soon now". The first was something like 5 years ago :)

    These stats ignore the fact that there are huge available allocations that can go behind NAT's. An ISP can NAT big chunks of its user network. Charging even a modest amount per IP would free up huge numbers of IPs. There are abandoned blocks (companies out of business) and wildly oversized blocks (MIT etc).

    Plus, we've been hearing these stories for years. The idea that the internets resources are going to become ipv6 anytime soon is unlikly. So folks are going to figure out a way to manage the existing pool, where there is lots of room for improved efficiency.

    Fun to keep on reading these stories... they're always written as breaking news :)