Sales of unused IPv4 addresses gathering steam

NetworkWorld.com
Carolyn Duffy Marsan

LB3’s Marc A. Lindsey is quoted extensively in the following NetworkWorld article on the current activity in the IPv4 trading market.

A growing number of U.S. carriers and enterprises are hedging their bets on IPv6 by purchasing blocks of unused IPv4 addresses through official channels or behind-the-scenes dealmaking.

The U.S. government, Internet policymakers and leading content providers such as Google, Facebook and Yahoo are encouraging network operators to adopt IPv6. In particular, proponents of the new version of the Internet Protocol are promoting World IPv6 Launch Day, an event scheduled for June 6 that requires participants to permanently enable IPv6.

But even as many companies plan their migrations to IPv6 – so far, 1,550 Web sites, 45 ISPs and two home router vendors have committed to World IPv6 Launch Day – they are also purchasing hundreds, thousands, even millions of IPv4 addresses to ensure smooth Internet operations during what’s expected to be a decade-long transition from IPv4 to IPv6.