ITU-T Newslog - IPv6

South Africa joins the ITU IPv6 IPTV Global Testbed

Some Other User — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:14:13 GMT

The ITU IPv6 IPTV Global Testbed has undergone a significant expansion with the connection of South Africas Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

CSIR's Meraka Institute is the countrys leading national ICT research institute and the main hub of SANReN (South African National Research Network), a large-scale government project that provides network connectivity between organizations specialized in higher education and research.

The international ITU IPv6 IPTV Global Testbed was established by ITU-T in collaboration with Japans National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Hokkaido Television Broadcasting (HTB) and OKI. The backbone to this international IPTV experiment is established through extended connectivity between SANReN and NICTs IPv6 research network, JGN-X (Japan Gigabit Network-eXtreme).

Core ITU standards underpinning the experiment include Recommendation ITU-T H.721s IPTV terminal for Video on Demand (VoD) and Linear TV, ITU-T H.762s Lightweight Interactive Multimedia Environment (LIME) for interactive IPTV services, and ITU-T H.264s video encoding. High-definition IPTV content encoded in H.264 is being delivered over IPv6 between CSIR and other testbed locations, interactively controlled by H.762 on H.721-compliant terminals.

The news marks the first-ever IPTV testbed in Africa. Rwandas capital, Kigali, will be the next location to join the project with preparations already underway between ITU-T Study Group 16 (Multimedia) and Rwandas proposed host of the testbed.

The ongoing expansion of ITUs Global Testbed capitalizes on the success of a series of transcontinental IPTV experiments held over the past two years. For the second year running, ITU-standardized IPTV technologies were deployed in an international IPTV experiment held in conjunction with the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan, 5-11 February 2013. Run over ITUs IPTV IPv6 Global Testbed, the experiment was successful in its ambitious attempt to employ ten software-defined networks (SDNs) simultaneously.

IPTV services were used to live-stream scenes from Sapporo and to provide supporting Video on Demand (VoD) segments, accompanied by integrated social media tools and a remotely-provided captioning service. A particularly notable achievement was the use of RISE (Research Infrastructure for large-Scale network Experiments), a next-generation Internet based on OpenFlow, to deliver IPTV content to Singapore where IPv4 and IPv6 were combined virtually (Read the full story on the Sapporo experiment in an earlier newslog article here).

For more on ITU-Ts work on IPTV, please see ITUs IPTV Global Standards Initiative.

ITU standards underpin transcontinental IPTV experiment

Some Other User — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 09:14:59 GMT

For the second year running, ITU-standardized IPTV technologies have been deployed in an international IPTV experiment held in conjunction with the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan, 5-11 February 2013. The experiment ran over ITUs IPTV IPv6 Global Testbed and was successful in its ambitious attempt to employ ten software-defined networks (SDNs) simultaneously.

ITU headquarters in Geneva received high-definition IPTV content from the head-end server in Japan via a native end-to-end IPv6 connection, participating alongside broadcasters, government agencies, network operators, manufacturers and research institutes from Japan, Singapore and the Philippines.

IPTV services were used to live-stream scenes from Sapporo and to provide supporting Video on Demand (VoD) segments, accompanied by integrated social media tools and a remotely-provided captioning service. A particular achievement was the use of RISE, a next-generation Internet based on OpenFlow, to deliver IPTV content to Singapore where IPv4 and IPv6 were combined virtually (more on ITU and IPv6 here).

Core ITU standards underpinning the experiment included Recommendation ITU-T H.721s IPTV terminal for Video on Demand (VoD) and Linear TV, and ITU-T H.762s Lightweight Interactive Multimedia Environment (LIME) for interactive IPTV services.

Building on the success of similar events in 2012, Japans National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Hokkaido Television Broadcasting (HTB) and OKI continue to provide the infrastructure underlying what has become known as ITUs IPTV IPv6 Global Testbed.

The experiment was organized by NICT and conducted over its IPv6 research network, Japan Gigabit Network-eXtreme (JGN-X). Other participating organizations included ASTEM, MediaEdge, NTT, NTT Communications, NTT Electronics and Sumitomo Electric Networks from Japan; the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) from Singapore; Ateneo de Manila University, Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and the Information and Communications Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST ICTO) from the Philippines; and Swisscom from Switzerland.

Such experiments together with ITU IPTV Interoperability events are important steps towards broadening the IPTV market through globally-interoperable services. Standardized IPTV will lead to a whole new market for innovation, and ITU standards will ensure this market remains open, competitive and accessible to all.

ITU-T Study Group 16 is producing the standards required to drive widespread adoption of IPTV. Global standards will lower the costs of these services for vendors and consumers, avoiding costly format wars and enabling rollouts of the technology to a scale not achievable with proprietary solutions.

For more on ITU-Ts work on IPTV, please see ITUs IPTV Global Standards Initiative.

IPv6 (Geneva, Switzerland, 07 - 08 April 2011)

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:07:47 GMT

IPv6 (Geneva, Switzerland, 07 - 08 April 2011)

Invitation letter (TSB Circular 162)

Online Registration

ITU IPv6 Group

2nd meeting of the ITU IPv6 Group, Geneva, Switzerland, 1-2 September 2010

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:21:23 GMT

2nd meeting of the ITU IPv6 Group,
Geneva, Switzerland, 1-2 September 2010

Registration Form

See ITU-T TSB Circular 119 for more information

ITU IPv6 Group

6 Group

IPv6 web resource online

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:30:50 GMT

ITU has published a new online resource for IPv6 related information.

The webpages have been published in response to WTSA-08 Resolution 64 IP address allocation and encouraging the deployment of IPv6.

The aim is to raise awareness of IPv6 deployment, as well as providing information related to training events and IPv6 related news. An IPv4 exhaustion counter estimates the number of days until all IPv4 addresses are used.

The site also hosts a questionnaire that will collect information and feedback from ITU members. Deadline for submission is 12 June.

With the massive deployment of Internet-related resources worldwide and the integration of IP-enabled consumer devices connected directly to the network, the issue of the depletion of IPv4 addresses is an increasing concern. In addition to other features, IPv6 with its 128 bit address space is aimed at addressing the current shortage of public IPv4 addresses. However for various reasons the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 taking longer than expected.

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Sri Lanka Hosts First Joint ITU and CTO Event

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:56:03 GMT

Over 150 delegates from 25 countries met last week in Colombo, Sri Lanka to discuss standardization and regulatory issues relating to next generation networks (NGN).

The event, jointly-organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), and hosted by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) of Sri Lanka, constitutes a major step in engaging with industry stakeholders in the region and beyond on NGN standardization issues.

Participants at the event agreed to invite the ITU to establish a web-based NGN Gateway, linking NGN activities in the three ITU sectors (standardization, radiocommunication and development).

The NGN Gateway would act as an NGN information sharing point particularly aimed at developing countries and give resources such as:

NGN Tutorials
Standardization pointers
Governmental issue guidelines
Regulatory guidelines
Case studies on migration to NGN
Conformance and interoperability guidelines

NGNs are packet-based networks able to make use of multiple broadband, transport technologies, and in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies. Networks built on NGN technology have the potential to offer significantly lower service delivery costs, deliver a greater range of services and applications, and at the same time, support seamless and generalised mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to end-users.

Various operators in the region have started the migration of their networks to NGN, however there is a pressing need to agree on a set of global standards on a range of issues, including interconnection and interoperability between networks, QoS, mobility, and IPv6.

The ITU and CTO joined forces to ensure the widest participation from Asia and beyond. Present at the event were leading operators, regulators and manufacturers including NTT, BT, Ericsson, Motorola, and ZTE.

This is a historic event. Not only is it the first ITU-T event in Sri Lanka, it is the first joint event between ITU and CTO, said Malcolm Johnson, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU during his welcome address.

Sri Lanka was pleased to host this event. We are committed to such collaborative arrangements with the ITU and the CTO, as we see the ICT sector as a driving force of our economy, Priyantha Kariyapperuma, Director-General of Sri Lanka TRC added.

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NGN standards event: Sri Lanka

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:43:10 GMT

ITU together with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) will hold a Forum on Next Generation Network (NGN) Standardization, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7 - 10 April 2009.

The event will examine the latest developments in NGNs including architecture, service requirements, network capabilities and migration. Case studies will allow attendees to learn from existing and ongoing NGN deployments from Asia-Pacific and beyond. Participants will also be kept up-to-date on recent changes to ITU-T working methods and its new mandate relating to IPv6.

Sessions will additionally focus on cybersecurity, ICTs and climate change, traffic accounting principles and QoS. There will be discussion of policy, regulatory and developmental issues related to NGNs and a report on the main results of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-08).

NGN growth in Asia-Pacific is in different stages of development. In a climate of many complex economic, technological, strategic and operational considerations, including the cost of implementation, changing marketplaces, complex migration scenarios and regulatory uncertainties, the role and importance of standardization is highlighted more than ever before.

By leveraging on the experiences of renowned experts in the ICT field, the conference aims to allow participants to explore a wide spectrum of NGN standardization and related topics, with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

Click here for details.

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World Assembly heralds new era in setting global ICT standards

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:29:56 GMT

The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-08) drew to a close yesterday in Johannesburg, South Africa with decisions on a wide range of issues that will impact the future direction of the information and communication technology (ICT) industry.

ITU members, spanning the global ICT industry and administrations from across the world, asked for increased emphasis on key areas such as ICTs and climate change, the deployment of IPv6, accessibility to ICTs for persons with disabilities, conformance and interoperability testing, and encouraging academic participation in ITUs work.

Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITUs Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) said in his closing speech, "We have received a strong message from our members that ITU is, and will remain the worlds pre-eminent global telecommunication and ICT standards body. And we also hear very clearly that ITU should continue on its mission to connect the world, and that bridging the standardization gap by increasing developing country participation in our work is an essential prerequisite to achieve this goal."

Delegates at the ten-day meeting in Johannesburg agreed on measures including a restructuring of ITUs standards work and a revised focus that will serve to strengthen ITUs position as the worlds premier ICT standards body. Eight new chairmen were elected bringing a fresh outlook to many of ITUs areas of study. 768 delegates, including 13 Ministers or Vice-Ministers from 99 countries participated.

"The reorganization of the Study Groups was not a simple task," Johnson added. "It has been attempted before but this time we have established a streamlined and efficient structure, avoiding duplication and focusing on our key objectives."

A key agreement encapsulated in a Resolution adopted by the Assembly is that ITU members will work towards reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from the use of ICTs, in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Resolution also recognizes that ICTs can be a major mitigating factor in efforts to moderate climate change and to limit and ultimately reduce GHG emissions across all industry sectors. It also acknowledges that ITU has committed to achieving climate neutrality within three years.

Another Resolution tasks the ITU secretariat with carrying out studies in order to introduce the use of an ITU Mark as a voluntary programme permitting suppliers to make a visible declaration that their products conform to ITU-T Recommendations.

ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré said, " We have made significant strides in the development of a knowledge-based information society. This World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, which has brought together close to 800 experts from nearly 100 countries, has laid out a road map for the future development of standards that underpin the worlds communications networks. This is a critical input for all stakeholders who join ITU in our commitment to connect the world."

The closing plenary of the Assembly saw Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Minister of Communications of South Africa switch on South Africas digital broadcasting signal, which will be fully implemented in time for the Football World Cup in 2010.

A full report from the Assembly will be made available via its website.

IPv6 event calls for capacity building

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:24:45 GMT

A key conclusion of a recent ITU workshop on IPv6 is that capacity building will be fundamental to progress IPv6 deployment. A report from the workshop is available here.

The workshop, held in Geneva on 4-5 September 2008, brought together key policy makers, standards makers and other industry figures to progress international cooperation on the implementation of IPv6.

We have noted voices and opinions from the developing world and from the developed world, from academia and research institutes, as well as from industry members, said Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITUs Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), in a speech to welcome workshop participants. Often these voices focus on the issue of the management of Internet resources, including IPv6 addresses, and that it may be appropriate to consider systems that avoid some of the problems that have arisen with IPv4 allocations.

Johnson invited the IPv6 global community to engage with ITU on this important topic. It will be essential in the coming months to address some of the roadblocks that have so far stalled IPv6 implementation, he said, adding that ITU has proven and relevant competence as the architect and custodian of the worlds international telephone numbering system, a system which is characterized by stability. ITU could play an active role in areas such as technical and standardization issues, which will enable the most efficient and effective usage of IPv6. It would also take part in capacity building and technical assistance to help countries in the deployment process and parallel running of IPv4 and IPv6.

Presenters highlighted Asia as home to several pioneering deployments of IPv6. Japan has long been a leader in research on the technology. China is home to the worlds biggest IPv6 infrastructure project, part of the China Next Generation Internet (CNGI) programme covering more than 40 cities nationwide.

The workshop recognized the role of governments in efforts to foster the deployment and usage of IPv6. It was also noted that the transition to IPv6 might be market driven, and that ISPs keen to ensure business continuity will benefit from the migration.

Participants agreed that there is a need to share knowledge, because migration scenarios are not yet completely clear. In this regard, it could be helpful to publicize comparisons between the architecture of IPv4 and IPv6, in order to demonstrate to decision makers the value of a more agile network.

The meeting recommended creating a project within ITU to assist developing countries based on regional needs as identified by the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). This project should include a training component, and should be carried out jointly by the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) and the BDT, taking into consideration the involvement of those partners willing to join and to contribute their expertise.

The stability of the Internet is paramount. I am sure that the problems experienced so far are surmountable, and I know that ITU has the knowledge, strength and will to assist, said Johnson.

Final IPv6 event programme announced

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:41:40 GMT

The final programme and input documents for ITUs Workshop on IPv6 4-5 September have been announced.

The event will be made available as an audio webcast, click here for details.

Cisco will host a reception on 4 September from 18:30 to 20:00 and all the coffee breaks are offered by Tiscali International Network.

IPv6 Workshop for Geneva, September 4-5

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:20:38 GMT

ITU will host a workshop to address international public policy issues on the migration to IPv6, as well as the economic aspects related to IP address allocation 4-5 September in Geneva.

With the massive deployment of Internet-related resources worldwide and the integration of IP-enabled consumer devices connected directly to the network, the issue of the depletion of IPv4 addresses is becoming pertinent. Indeed, there is wide recognition of the need for better awareness of the availability of IPv4 addresses and the deployment of IPv6.

Despite the use of network address translation (NAT) as a strategy for reducing the use of public IPv4 addresses, several experts forecast depletion in the next few years. In addition to other features, IPv6 with its 128 bit address space is aimed at addressing the current shortage of public IPv4 addresses. However the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is going at a rather slow rate, with both versions being used in parallel. Many informed observers attribute this to market forces and other economic considerations.

There is growing interest in IPv6 especially among the organizations involved in its management. ITU is organizing this workshop in order to foster dialogue and international cooperation on IPv6 related issues.

The workshop will provide a platform for dialogue where key players in the field, including all ITU sectors, as well as other interested entities will be able to discuss and address international public policy issues on the migration to IPv6, as well as the economic aspects related to IP address allocation.

The workshop is designed to stimulate discussion and interaction with the audience, rather than offer a string of presentations and speeches provided by panelists and speakers.