A representative in charge of Chongqing's radio and TV broadband services told local media that while IPv4 addresses are diminishing, it is still possible for new Netizens in China to gain access to the Internet. This is because Internet resources are not like natural resources which are non-renewable; they are man's creation and man has the power to create more IP addresses. As such, the shortage can be resolved with current technologies.

News reports that emerged from the 2008 IP Address Resource Seminar held by the China Internet Network Information Center said new Chinese Netizens may not be able to gain normal access to the Internet by 2010 as current IPv4 addresses were limited and 80 percent of the final allocation IP addresses had been used.

Meanwhile, other Chinese news reports are saying that the shortage of IP addresses is mere speculation. In recent years, the equipment introduced in China's telecom industry can support both IPv4 and IPv6. Once the IPv4 addresses are not available, the operators will start to use the IPv6 addresses. As such, Chinese Netizens do not need to worry about Internet access in China.

The IPv6--an upgrade version of IPv4--is the core of the next-generation Internet's technologies. It can provide adequate IP addresses with an estimated allocation number of about one million addresses for each person around the world.

Source:zdnet