The Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) and the Access Providers Association organized the “IPv6 Access Providers Event in Turkey”.
In the opening speech of the program, where the necessity of using IPv6 and its future were discussed, Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, stated that the IP issue has become a scarce resource today. Pointing to the development of technology as the reason for this, Sayan shared the following information: “The ability to access the internet from everywhere at all times, the tremendous rapid development of IoT technology, and the widespread use of internet-based services to the same extent as mobile devices have led to an increase in the provision of IP-based services and the demand for these services. Consequently, this increase has led to the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses.”
Emphasizing the need for the existing telecommunication networks in our country to take the necessary measures as soon as possible to transition to IPv6 in order to adapt to these developments in the internet field and not to fall behind the technology, Sayan said, “The transition to IPv6 is a necessity for our country to become one of the few countries with a digital economy in the world, capable of digital exports, strong and leading in its region, and for the development of domestic and national digital technologies. For civil society organizations to play a more effective role in digital transformation, to make the internet ecosystem in our country more secure, to support the development of digital innovation culture, and to make our country a global player in line with the 2023 information society targets, IPv6 transition efforts need to be carried out. In this direction, our Information Technologies and Communication Authority has accelerated its efforts in recent years regarding the importance of IPv6, raising awareness about IPv6, and completing the transition to IPv6 in our country.”
Recording that certain level of studies have been conducted within public institutions and organizations under the Prime Ministry Circular published in 2010 for the purpose of widespread use of IPv6 in our country's internet infrastructures, Sayan said, “The necessity has emerged for our operators providing internet access services to start working on transitioning to IPv6. For this reason, we are continuing the efforts to determine the IPv6 transition strategy through meetings with our sector players. In this scope, while conducting studies to identify the status of operators' IPv6 infrastructures, evaluate IPv6 transition plans, and complete the necessary test works before commercial services are provided, our research on whether additional regulatory arrangements are needed in this regard is also ongoing.”
Deputy Minister Sayan: Many New Opportunities Will Emerge with IPv6
Stating that new and much different opportunities will emerge on the internet with the transition to the IPv6 protocol, Sayan said, “The earlier we complete the IPv6 transition as a country, the sooner we discover and start benefiting from these opportunities. On the other hand, the widespread use of IPv6 is also important for the dissemination of Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and cloud computing services in our country. All stakeholders, especially public institutions, universities, internet service providers, private sector, and R&D units, have great responsibilities for the transition to IPv6 in our country and for the emergence of new value-added services and products focused on IPv6. In this direction, we expect our internet access providers to plan to complete their IPv6 transition efforts in the shortest time possible and to regularly share their experiences and efforts in the IPv6 transition process with the sector.”
President Karagözoğlu: We Can't Even Imagine a Life Without Internet
Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, President of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, also addressed the increase in internet usage in the context of the pandemic. Emphasizing that a life without internet is impossible, Karagözoğlu said, “If we look at the 'connection' data in our country in terms of subscriptions and usage volume, we see that the number of broadband internet subscribers, which was around 6 million in 2008, has increased approximately fourteenfold to 82.4 million by the end of 2020. The total number of internet subscribers increased by 7.5% compared to the previous year in 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the monthly average usage of fixed broadband internet subscribers was at 178 GByte level, the monthly average usage of mobile broadband internet subscribers was at 9.9 GByte level, and the data usage of 4.5G subscribers with devices and SIM cards compatible with 4.5G service was at 11.6 GByte level. In the last quarter of 2020, the fixed broadband penetration rate per population was 20%, while the mobile broadband penetration rate was 78.5%. All these indicators show that our country is becoming more 'connected' in a manner compatible with the global average.”
Stating that ensuring the continuity of the internet is very important, Karagözoğlu shared the following information: “RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC), which serves as the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia, including our country, and is responsible for the allocation of IPv4 and IPv6 and the distribution of internet resources, announced in 2012 that the last /8 IPv4 block was exhausted. In its statement in November 2019, RIPE NCC announced that /22 IPv4 blocks were also exhausted and that it could only allocate IPv4 address blocks that might be returned by various organizations in the future according to waiting lists.”
Reminding that with the increasing difficulty of acquiring IPv4, ISPs around the world are conducting studies at various levels to transition to IPv6, Karagözoğlu said, “Considering the problems that will be encountered in the IPv6 transition process, the studies conducted so far for transitioning to IPv6 should be increased, and important steps should be taken in the transition process with more time and resources. In this scope, we have notified our transition schedule prepared by the Authority to the ISPs. Adhering to this schedule is of great importance for IPv6 transition efforts. One of the issues that came to the agenda with the initiation of IPv6 transition efforts is cybersecurity. Small or large organizations around the world are constantly exposed to cyberattacks and face data breaches. We are striving to keep cybersecurity risks in our country at a manageable and controllable level with this awareness. Managing the risks brought by the internet with a holistic approach involving all stakeholders, being prepared against cyber incidents, and ensuring continuity with minimal damage form the basis of our efforts. Turkey has made significant progress in this regard with the works of our Ministry and Authority. While fulfilling its regulatory duties towards the electronic communications sector in our country on one hand, our Authority continues its activities to ensure national cybersecurity as required by the duties and responsibilities assigned to it,” concluding his speech.