Etisalat wins 'Network Pioneer' award for its initiatives on IPv6 in Middle East

Nasser Salim, Senior manager of Internet & eSolutions from Etisalat received the award in front of industry professionals at a glittering ceremony to mark the Network Middle East Innovation Awards 2005 in Dubai on June 12.

According to Nasser Salim, 'It is very gratifying to be recognized for our efforts with IPV6 in the region and we would like to thank Network Middle East and the ITP group for this singular honour.' IPv4(Internet Protocol Version 4) is now being challenged by the growing need for new IP addresses as cellular phones and IP-based services mushroom along with the convergence of voice and data. In such a scenario, the ability of IPv6 to expand the number of addresses available from 32 bit addresses to 128 bit - is crucial.

'Etisalat's vision is to be the driving force for change in the communication sector and in pursuit of this objective, we have committed substantial resources to help the Middle East make the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.', said Salim.

Etisalat has carried out thorough and comprehensive testing of IPv6 with native IPv6 test networks globally since 2000. The corporation has also been discussing a dedicated IPv6 link with other ISPs in the region.

Etisalat built a basic IPv6 network infrastructure in February 2002 and is currently testing the same with regional ISPs and with Emirates Internet Exchange (EMIX).

IPv6 is the 'next generation' protocol designed by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) to replace the current version Internet Protocol, IP Version 4 ('IPv4').Most of today's Internet uses IPv4, which is now nearly twenty years old. As a result, there is a growing shortage of IPv4 addresses, which are needed by all new machines and devices to be added to the Internet.