IPv6 chairman predicts we will run our of IP addresses in 2010

I’m hesitant to buy into gloom and doom predictions, but I think the IP address shortage is a real possibility. I still won’t buy into the crash and burn theories for the internet, but it looks like IPv6 will be a necessity sooner rather than later. Quoting Jim Bound, IPv6 Task Force Chairman in an interview with Network World.

The IPv6 community is now talking about 2010 as the date for IPv4 address exhaustion. Is that date real?

It is very real. It could be plus or minus one year. The consensus is that we have two to four years until we run out of IPv4 addresses. It’s hard to predict how the usage will work. It’s been sporadic over the years. If you go to the IPv6 Forum Web site, you’ll see a counter that shows how much time we feel is left.

It’s very likely the average user will not notice any change if the switch is made. If made, it will create a upgrade rush that is likely to benefit a number of enterprises like Cisco.