The Communications Authority of Kenya has released a strategy paper outlining a transition from IPv4 to IPv6 for the country's regulations and standards for data routing and addressing on the Internet by 2023.
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), the fourth version of the Internet Protocol (IP) used to permit and arrange every connection to the internet, is governed internationally by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The 32-bit address length of IPv4 is currently limiting and ineffective given the growing demand for internet access worldwide. IPv6 uses a longer 128-bit address length and has more advanced features. Contrary to IPv4, which only offers manual and DHCP address setups, this supports automated and renumbering address configurations.
Kenya's adoption of IPv6 was at little under 8% as of March 2021, whereas that of the other nations in the area was estimated at 0.3% in Uganda, 0.1% in Tanzania, 6.34 percent in Rwanda, and 0.1% in Burundi, and 0% in South Sudan.
Implications of not migrating
If migration is not finished on time, new devices that could need an internet connection but lack IPv4 addresses due to depletion will be unable to connect to the internet. Cybersecurity-related consequences are also concerning. Those nations that have not transitioned will have to employ techniques like tunneling, which can quickly cause network vulnerabilities. Due to the widespread cyberattacks on payment systems, this is probably going to prevent the country from adopting e-commerce.
