06 October 2022

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has urged technology industries to begin migration from IPv4 to IPv6 to ensure the continued progress of internet development in the country.

“As internet availability increases, so does the need to uniquely identify each of the devices like laptops, phones and IoT devices coming online on the continent - something which IPv6 guarantees with extended numbering capacity. IPv6 will help ensure that the next billion users and devices from Africa will have end-to-end access to the internet,” said Kevin Chege, director of internet development for the Internet Society.

The entire continent has so far been slow to adopt the change. Google’s statistics show that adoption is at less than 8% for Kenya, 6.34% for Rwanda, 0.3% for Uganda, 0.11% for Tanzania and 0% for Burundi and South Sudan. Kenya has, however, stipulated a complete migration to IPv6 by July 2023.

Companies have been advised to access training offered by AFRINIC, ICANN and Internet Society to assist in the move to IPv6.

IPv4 is running low in Africa and has already run out in other parts of the world. The move to IPv6 will ensure that services remain accessible.