(Dubai, UAE, 12 March 03) -In a further sign of the country’s technological lead in the region, United Arab Emirates Network Information Center (www.UAEnic.ae), today became the first Administrator in the Middle East to obtain Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
 
Once fully implemented, IPv6 will increase the number of electronic appliances that can be connected to an Internet network by expanding the number of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses available.  At the same time, security and mobility will also be improved.
 
“Essentially an IP address is a unique set of coded numbers that allow appliances to be identified over a network,” commented Abdulla Hashim, Manager, UAEnic.  “In the future, new wireless and fixed devices needing a network connection will become abundant.  Ensuring the U.A.E is ready for any future trends and technology is the key objective of UAEnic.  As part of that commitment, we have been pursuing the new addresses vigorously.”
 
As soon as the relevant technical and administrative policy is put in place, the new addresses will be distributed to the local community. 
 
Any device on a network including printers, servers and PCs has an IP address in order to receive information from other devices.  IPv6 is an evolution of the current IPv4, which is running out of individual IP addresses due to the explosive growth of the Internet in recent yeas.   Many products, including the major computer operating systems, now support IPv6.
 
Following two years of extensive testing with the country, and an IPv6 forum held by Etisalat in 2002, the relevant authorization for IPv6 was received from the Regional IP Address European (RIPE), the global governing body for Internet Protocol (IP).
 
By increasing the IPv6 addresses from 32 bits to 128 bits, the number of available IP addresses will rise from 2.4 billion to a total of 340 billion billion billion billion unique addresses

”IPv6 has been developed to facilitate the next step in Internet development,” added Hashim.  “It gives us the flexibility to plan for new devices and applications to be ‘plugged’ into interconnecting networks.  Being the first in the region to achieve this status is testimony to UAEnic’s commitment to bringing the latest technology to the U.A.E.”
 
-Ends-
 
 About UAEnic
In May 1995, the United Arab Emirates Network Information Centre (UAEnic) started handling the registry operations of the Internet domain name for .ae Top Level Domain.  Now with over 11,000 domain names registered, it handles the day-to-day operations of Domain Name Registration services and also acts as a Local Internet Registry, where it assigns IP Address to the Local Internet Community.
www.uaenic.ae
 
Issued by Emirates Internet and Multimedia (EIM). 
For further information please contact
Hatem Al Taie,
PR Manager,
EIM, 
Telephone 971 4 202 5595, or
Fax 971 4 295 8485 or
e-mail altaie1@emirates.net.ae.

© Press Release 2003