[Chapter-delegates] Puerto Rico Broadband Service Providers prepare for Internet Protocol IPv6

[Eduardo Diaz]

*San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 23, 2012 –* Puerto Rico’s broadband providers
met last Thursday at the Telegrafo facilities in Santurce for the IPv6
Workshop for Broadband Providers in order to begin preparations for Puerto
Rico’s transition to IPv6 – the next generation Internet Protocol.

The activity was sponsored by the Puerto Rico Bridge Initiative and the
Internet Society, and included a presentation by IPv6 expert Mr. Jose Rosa
of Cisco Systems. The topics addressed included IPv6 provisioning,
transition and migration issues faced by broadband service providers.


In attendance were Network Engineers and representatives from broadband
providers including Liberty, AT&T, Claro, OSNet, Caribe.Net, Worldnet,
Aeronet, AWV Communications, WIFI Caribbean, as well as representatives
from the University of Puerto Rico, the Internet Society of Puerto Rico and
INTECO.


“There is no doubt the importance of the Internet for Puerto Rico’s
economic growth. Yet, less than 40% of our residents are broadband users.
Puerto Rico’s broadband providers are preparing to be able to provide
broadband to millions of new users, and with faster speeds and greater
redundancy. Thanks to the Puerto Rico Bridge Initiative’s (PRBI) ARRA
funding, we are already seeing increased network investment by broadband
providers,” said Carlo Marazzi, President of Critical Hub Networks. “The
PRBI will continue to work with the broadband provider community to ensure
that IPv6 is adopted so we can serve the next wave of Puerto Rico’s
broadband users.”


IPv6 is the sixth revision to the Internet Protocol, and the successor to
the currently-used IPv4. Due to the growth of the Internet in the past
decade, IPv6 adoption is essential to facilitate the continued growth of
the Internet and provide the necessary IP addresses for new Internet users
and devices. The major difference between IPv4 and IPv4 is the number of IP
addresses. There are just over 4 billion IPv4 addresses (232), while there
are 2128 IPv6 addresses, or in other words, IPv6 can support
340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 devices.

"There are now 2 billion people who connect to the Internet. We've got 6
billion people in the world who want to connect themselves and their
devices. That is simply not possible with IPv4. It's just not doable.",
stated Olaf Kolkman, Internet Architecture Board (IAB) Chair on February 3,
2011 when the final IPv4 addresses were distributed to the Internet
registries, including the American Registry for Internet Numbers.


“IPv6 is coming, and Puerto Rico is not ready.”, commented Karen Larson,
Vice President of Critical Hub Networks. “The Internet Society of Puerto
Rico and the PRBI are going to continue our efforts in 2012 with the goal
of having the majority of Puerto Rico’s broadband providers participate in
World IPv6 Day in 2013.”


In April 2010, Critical Hub was awarded $25.7 million in ARRA funds through
the NTIA for the creation of the Puerto Rico Bridge Initiative (PRBI), a
project designed to bring fast, affordable broadband service to all of
Puerto Rico. Since its funding, the PRBI has established an ultra high
speed backbone connection for broadband providers from Puerto Rico to
Miami. The next phase of the project will include a terrestrial wireless
network to facilitate broadband speeds in areas which are particularly
underserved, including Maricao, Vieques and Culebra.


ISOCPR is the Puerto Rico Chapter of the Internet Society. Created in the
United States in 1992, the Internet Society is a non-profit entity
dedicated to safeguarding the best interests of the Internet as well as
stimulate its use throughout the globe. For more information, visit
www.isocpr.org .


Headquartered in El Telégrafo in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Critical Hub
Networks, also known as Caribe.Net, is an Internet Service Provider
offering disaster recovery, data center and colocation services, and a full
suite of retail, corporate and wholesale Internet services. Additional
information about Critical Hub Networks can be obtained by e-mail at
webmaster at caribe.net, by accessing the web site at www.caribe.net, the
Puerto Rico Bridge Initiative website at www.prbridgeinitiative.org, or by
calling (787) 728-9000.



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