Editing IPv6 (section)

==Deployment==
{{Main|IPv6 deployment}}
[[File:Rir-ipv6-allocation-rate.svg|thumb|Monthly IPv6 allocations per [[regional Internet registry]] (RIR)]]

The 1993 introduction of [[Classless Inter-Domain Routing]] (CIDR) in the routing and IP address allocation for the Internet, and the extensive use of [[network address translation]] (NAT), delayed [[IPv4 address exhaustion]] to allow for IPv6 deployment, which began in the mid-2000s.

Universities were among the early adopters of IPv6. [[Virginia Tech]] deployed IPv6 at a trial location in 2004 and later expanded IPv6 deployment across the [[campus network]]. By 2016, 82% of the traffic on their network used IPv6. [[Imperial College London]] began experimental IPv6 deployment in 2003 and by 2016 the IPv6 traffic on their networks averaged between 20% and 40%. A significant portion of this IPv6 traffic was generated through their [[high energy physics]] collaboration with [[CERN]], which relies entirely on IPv6.<ref>{{Citation|title=State of IPv6 Deployment 2018|url=https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/2018/state-of-ipv6-deployment-2018/|page=3|year=2018|publisher=[[Internet Society]]}}</ref>

The [[Domain Name System]] (DNS) has supported IPv6 since 2008. In the same year, IPv6 was first used in a major world event during the Beijing [[2008 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="beijing2008-pressrelease">{{cite press release|title=Beijing2008.cn leaps to next-generation Net|publisher=The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad|date=30 May 2008|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/preparation/n214384681.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204051327/http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/preparation/n214384681.shtml|archive-date=4 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipv6.com/articles/general/IPv6-Olympics-2008.htm|title=IPv6 and the 2008 Beijing Olympics|last=Das|first=Kaushik|year=2008|work=IPv6.com|access-date=15 August 2008|archive-date=1 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801051918/http://www.ipv6.com/articles/general/IPv6-Olympics-2008.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By 2011, all major operating systems in use on personal computers and server systems had production-quality IPv6 implementations. Cellular telephone systems presented a large deployment field for Internet Protocol devices as mobile telephone service made the transition from [[3G]] to [[4G]] technologies, in which voice is provisioned as a [[voice over IP]] (VoIP) service that would leverage IPv6 enhancements. In 2009, the US cellular operator [[Verizon Communications|Verizon]] released technical specifications for devices to operate on its "next-generation" networks.<ref name="verizon">{{cite web|first=Derek|last=Morr|title=Verizon Mandates IPv6 Support for Next-Gen Cell Phones|url=http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090609_verizon_mandates_ipv6_support_for_next_gen_cell_phones/|publisher=CircleID|date=2009-06-09}}</ref> The specification mandated IPv6 operation according to the ''3GPP Release 8 Specifications (March 2009)'', and deprecated IPv4 as an optional capability.<ref name="verizon"/>

The deployment of IPv6 in the [[Internet backbone]] continued. In 2018 only 25.3% of the about 54,000 autonomous systems advertised both IPv4 and IPv6 prefixes in the global [[Border Gateway Protocol]] (BGP) routing database. A further 243 networks advertised only an IPv6 prefix. Internet backbone transit networks offering IPv6 support existed in every country globally, except in parts of [[Africa]], the [[Middle East]] and China.<ref name="IS 2018">{{cite web|title=State of IPv6 Deployment 2018|url=https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018-ISOC-Report-IPv6-Deployment.pdf|website=InternetSociety.org|publisher=[[Internet Society]]|access-date=19 January 2022}}</ref>{{Rp|6}} By mid-2018 some major European [[broadband]] ISPs had deployed IPv6 for the majority of their customers. [[Sky UK]] provided over 86% of its customers with IPv6, [[Deutsche Telekom]] had 56% deployment of IPv6, [[XS4ALL]] in the Netherlands had 73% deployment and in Belgium the broadband ISPs [[VOO]] and [[Telenet]] had 73% and 63% IPv6 deployment respectively.<ref name="IS 2018"/>{{Rp|7}} In the United States the broadband ISP [[Xfinity]] had an IPv6 deployment of about 66%. In 2018 Xfinity reported an estimated 36.1 million IPv6 users, while [[AT&T]] reported 22.3 million IPv6 users.<ref name="IS 2018"/>{{Rp|7–8}}