CRI听力:IPv6 to be Established for the Second Generation Of Internet

The first generation of the internet is coming to an end. According to the National Reform and Development Commission, the government has set a timetable to switch from IPv4 to IPv6 in China.

Starting from now until the end of 2013, a trial scheme will be conducted among a small number of internet users on the application of IPv6 mainly in the commercial area. Deputy Director Zhang Xiaoqiang from the National Development and Reform Commission says the scheme will be expanded to all users over the following two years.

"By the end of 2015, the overall system will be established, so that IPv4 can be smoothly transferred to the IPv6 system. We will gradually halt allocating IPv4 addresses to users as for the time being."

China, in particular, suffers from a serious IP address shortage. Statistics indicate that the nation currently has more than 500 million internet users, accounting for more than 20 percent of the total internet users in the world. But only a total of 30 million-odd IP addresses are available for Chinese users, which means one Chinese can only have 0.6 IP addresses, less than one-tenth that of an American user.

Meanwhile, the nation's surging numbers of mobile phone users are also internet surfers and they all need their own IP addresses. Li Zhengmao, Vice President of China Mobile, the largest mobile network carrier in China, complains that the inadequate supply of IP address is becoming a bottleneck for the country's internet development.

"China Mobile has a total number of 670 million users, taking up two-thirds of the domestic market. But we only have a little more than 50 million IP addresses for our users, merely 15 percent of the total number of IP addresses in China. It is far behind the pace of our business development. For China Mobile, the current IPv4 protocol cannot meet the demand at all."

So far, the largest IPv6 testing center has been located in Beijing, and the trial operation has formally kicked off. When the new system is finished, it is expected to completely solve the problem.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.