Qwest Offers Dedicated IPv6 Addresses to Government and Business Customers

Qwest Communications is offering public and private Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) addresses to its government and business customers. Qwest iQ Networking service customers can take advantage of IPv6’s built-in security measures and options, as well as a near-endless supply of IP addresses. ??Qwest chairman and CEO Ed Mueller announced the new IPv6 functionality during a keynote address at the Cybersecurity Symposium 2010 conference hosted by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association in Washington, D.C.

Qwest offers transition paths so customers can use the next generation of addressing protocol to run both IPv4 and/or IPv6 addresses via either:

• ?Dual Stack approach which offers the ability to run both IPv4 and IPv6 so customers may transition over time; or?
• Native IPv6, which allows Qwest customers to adapt to the next-generation IP protocol as they build new locations and bring on new sites and devices.

IPv4 has a limit of approximately 4 billion serviceable IP addresses that will exhaust in 2011 as the current pool of available IPv4 addresses dwindles to approximately 600 million, according to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. However, IPv6 is nearly inexhaustible (128 bits – 2 to the 128th power).
 
With native IPv6, Qwest business and government customers no longer need to use Network Address Translation (NAT), making configuration of complex networks simpler while providing simpler connectivity between peer-to-peer networks for highly secure end-to-end connectivity.