A Stakeholders’ Discussion Meeting  

Holiday Inn, Makati City  

4 December 2024, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM  

Makati City, Ph – IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), the latest version of the Internet Protocol, is the system that assigns unique addresses to devices connected to a network. These addresses are used so that devices such as computers, smartphones, or smart home devices can find and communicate with each other over the internet. Originally, the addressing system used was the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), but as networks and the Internet itself grew in size, IPv4 was rendered limited, with only 4.3 billion unique IP addresses to offer. With IPv6, however, addresses are nearly unlimited and will be able to accommodate every device on Earth, ultimately producing more efficient Internet traffic.  

As a forerunner of IPv6 research in the Philippines, the DOST Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) has been working with the local Internet development community since the late 1990s. The Institute set up its IPv6 testbed during this period, as one of the research components of the Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network (PREGINET).   

In 2010, together with then Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), the landmark policy Executive Order No. 893 s.2010 - Promoting the Deployment and Use of Internet Protocol ver. 6 was created and signed. The policy pushed for the promotion and deployment of IPv6 in the Philippines and aimed to address the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses and support the growth of internet-based services.   

Today, much remains to be done in terms of IPv6 adoption in the country, with only around 18.5% adoption rate nationwide, according to data from the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC). The push to increase this adoption rate, similar to what neighboring Asian countries such as India and Vietnam have done, entails all stakeholders from government, academe, industry (internet service providers, and telecommunication companies), and local Internet development groups to work together.   

As a government institution operating the national REN and a neutral Internet exchange, PREGINET and PhOpenIX, respectively, working with academe, and cable TV operators that are now also ISPs, has been the focus of our IPv6 advocacy and deployment activities. In its continued commitment to advocate IPv6 adoption, DOST-ASTI has received a grant from the APNIC Foundation, through the ISIF Asia, to implement the Open Network Testbed Laboratory for Internet Technologies Deployment and Experimentation (ON-IDLE) Project.   

The project, with the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) as cooperating partner, leverages PREGINET’s proven capability and experience in IPv6 over a two-decade period, as well as the partnerships and relationships we have built with academe, telecommunication companies, network operators and service providers, Internet development advocates, and training institutions.  

ON-IDLE activities are geared towards IPv6 capacity building, advocacy and deployment, strengthening research on advanced network technologies.   

This Stakeholders‘ Discussion Meeting is an initiative of the ON-IDLE Project to open discussions and conversations on how the country can move forward with IPv6 adoption through the lens of the past and present, by engaging different stakeholders.  

About the ON-IDLE Project  

IPv6 is a research focus of DOST-ASTI’s advanced research networks team. The team, which maintains the national research and education network (NREN) called the Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network (PREGINET), as well as a neutral exchange called the Philippine Open IX (PhOpenIX), has advocated IPv6 for over two (2) decades and have undertaken numerous advocacy (technical and policy), capacity building, and technology deployment activities. DOST-ASTI was the pioneer in IPv6 research in the Philippines when the Institute set up an IPv6 testbed back in the early 2000s. Most importantly, DOST-ASTI together with then Commission on ICT (now DICT), jointly crafted the Executive Order 893 s.2010 on "Promoting the Deployment and Use of Internet Protocol ver. 6".  

We continue to work with various organizations, Internet operators and advocates such as ISOC, ISOC Philippines, PhNOG, NSRC, APNOG, APNIC, APNIC Foundation, global RENs, as well as cable operators in the country towards IPv6 and related Internet technologies.  

Media Enquiries  

MARY ANTONNETTE SANTOS  

Event Coordinator <on-idle@asti.dost.gov.ph>.