tw telecom can help you be ready for all changes in the telecommunications landscape, including the transition to IPv6.
Internet use has exploded over the past two decades. In addition, a wider variety of devices — beyond desktop PCs — are now Internet-enabled. Every tablet, smartphone, and Internet-enabled gaming system has an individual identification number known as an IP address. Those addresses are assigned according to a 32-bit IP addressing system — IPv4. Now that the number of Internet users and devices has grown exponentially, the number of IP addresses available in IPv4 is rapidly diminishing.
Enter IPv6: a 128-bit addressing system built for the needs of today's Internet users, not those of the 1990s. Whereas IPv4 had a maximum of 4.29 billion IP addresses available for use, IPv6 has 600 quadrillion addresses for every square millimeter of the earth.
IPv6 also simplifies mobile access to the Internet and enhances security in the form of Internet Protocol Security (IPsec).
How does IPv6 affect tw telecom customers?
tw telecom customers can take comfort in the fact that tw telecom is already running IPv6 as well as IPv4 and is thus well prepared for the switch to IPv6. But how is tw telecom providing leadership for its customers in this area and helping them prepare?
"We have experience in working through the transition and can answer customer questions about any issue, concern or difficulty they have in understanding this technology," says Bob Meldrum, tw telecom'svice president of Corporate Communications, adding that tw telecom can also allow customers to test IPv6.
"IPv6 is not a product," Meldrum explains. "It's a feature/capability built into all our new products and will be implemented into our products over the next eighteen months. Customers don't have to worry about it — we've already taken care of that for them, and can help them with the transition."
An evolution, not a revolution
Meldrum emphasizes that the migration to IPv6 will be very natural. "It won't be revolutionary — it will be evolutionary," he says.
Above all, Meldrum wants to reassure tw telecom customers that they won't face the transition alone. "We're a champion for the enterprise," he concludes. "We want to make sure all our enterprise customers know we're working for them to ensure that this transition, like all our products and services, works seamlessly for them and they have access to all the voice, data, and multimedia communications tools that they need and expect from us."