IPv4 addresses will run out within eight months

The Internet Address and Naming Agency (IANA) will allocate the last remaining IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses this month, signalling a shift to the new IPv6 internet addressing scheme.

The IANA will allocate more net addresses to the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre in the next month, reducing the pool of available addresses to five blocks.

The stock of IPv4 addresses is now expected to be depleted by September.

The Number Resource Organisation, along with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Internet Society and the Internet Architecture Board are due to announce the global transition to the next generation of internet addresses, IPv6, at a press conference tomorrow.

With IPv4 addresses expected to run out in the coming weeks, only 0.2% of internet users have native IPv6 connectivity, Google said in a blogpost.

World IPv6 Day has been set for 8 June, when major organisations, such as Google, Facebook and Yahoo!, offer content over IPv6 for a 24-hour "test drive".