CTU and ARIN Host Major Internet Community Meeting in Kingston, Jamaica [Archived]
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For Immediate Release
21 May 2008
Contact:
Marissa Ramey
+1.202.349.3788
marissar@lewispr.com
CTU and ARIN Host Major Internet Community Meeting in Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica – Nearly 100 network engineers, regulators, policy makers, and
Internet community decision makers attended back-to-back events in Kingston, Jamaica this
week to discuss Internet Protocol (IP) addressing issues and related policy matters. The
meetings were hosted by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the American
Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN).
On Tuesday, 20 May, the CTU and ARIN held the first in a series of regional workshops on
understanding the issues surrounding the IPv4-IPv6 transition. Representatives from various
industries across the Caribbean gathered at the Courtleigh Hotel to discuss transition plans,
policy implications, and roles for regulators, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Topics
included IPv4 depletion, IPv6 adoption, and strategies for managing the transition.
IP addresses are the unique numbers computers and other electronic devices use to identify
themselves and pass information over the Internet. With only 16% of the current version of IP
addresses, called IPv4, remaining, the global Internet community is taking urgent action to
ensure continued access to essential network services by implementing a newer version
called IPv6. This new version will provide 16 billion-billion IP addresses.
Engineers estimate that IPv4 will only be available for two to three more years. At that point,
unless ISPs embrace IPv6, consumers may face disruptions in their access to critical Internet
services. The CTU and ARIN are at the forefront of raising awareness and offering training
and information relevant to preparing the Caribbean region to deal with this important issue.
“We are greatly encouraged by the wide representation and level of participation and interest
demonstrated by the attendees throughout the meeting. These issues are closely linked to
development in the region and we look forward to conducting similar sessions in other
Caribbean countries,” said Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General of the CTU.
On Wednesday, 21 May, the ARIN Caribbean Sector Meeting took place at the Kingston
Hilton. Participants discussed several pending policy proposals that dictate how ISPs,
universities, and organizations obtain IP address space from ARIN, including a proposal to
allow special rules for Caribbean organizations requesting and obtaining address space. The
Internet community in the ARIN region, which includes several Caribbean countries,
determines how IP addresses are allocated. Feedback from this meeting goes directly into
ARIN’s bottom-up policy development process.
“We were very pleased with the level of discussion during the meeting. The views expressed
this week by the participants are of special value to the entire ARIN community. We look
forward to more interactions with our Caribbean members and stakeholders,” said Raymond
A. Plzak, ARIN’s President and CEO.
About the American Registry for Internet Numbers
ARIN is the nonprofit corporation that manages the distribution of Internet number resources – IPv4, IPv6, and Autonomous System numbers – in its service region, which includes Canada, many Caribbean and North Atlantic islands, and the United States. More information on IPv6 adoption is available at http://www.getipv6.info/ and http://www.arin.net.
OUT OF DATE?
Here in the Vault, information is published in its final form and then not changed or updated. As a result, some content, specifically links to other pages and other references, may be out-of-date or no longer available.