ISPs getting ready for new addresses

INTERNET service providers (ISPs) are gearing up for a new kind of IP address (the numeric identification code for a device connecting
to the internet, such as a PC).

Until now, subscribers have been given “IPv4” addresses. However, these are running out and IPv6, is coming in. Technical changes
are required to ISPs’ networks and older home broadband boxes may need replacing.

A spokeswoman for Orange said however old addresses would continue to work. “It is similar to how France is running out of 06 mobile
phone numbers, so is allocating 07 ones,” she said. “We think will be able to issue IPv4 addresses until the end of next year.”

They are well-placed to be ready and have been running experiments since 2008, she said. Only Orange’s newest boxes are IPv6 compatible however, and in the long term (“possibly not for decades”) more and more websites will become inaccessible to users of IPv4.

A spokesman for Free said its users can already activate an IPv6 address via its site.

IPv6 offers an unlimited range of numbers and it is possible to have more than one per device, he said. It also offers better data security.