Imagine the Government of Antigua and Barbuda making a case for increased airlift into Antigua and Barbuda to boost tourism but neglect the state of the runway. This is what ignoring IPv6 is equivalent to.

How many of you relish browsing the Net on your mobile phone using 3G technology when 5G technology is everywhere else. This is exactly the scenario we find ourselves. IPv6 penetration in Antigua and Barbuda is no more than one percent. If no real effort is made to improve our rate of adoption, we could effectively find ourselves gradually being blocked from the internet.

It has been awhile now that our traditional IPv4 address space has been exhausted. IPv4 has a maximum of around four billion unique addresses. With a world population in excess of eight billion people it is inevitable that the networking protocol of the Internet will be predominantly IPv6.

The data shows that the developed nations have already surpassed 50% penetration. Since the Caribbean is a net consumer of internet services, we could find outselves blocked from new resources that only use IPv6 and with IPv4 addresses exhausted, this is not a farfetch notion.

Even if all eight billion people of the world are not online, one billion people, each having at least 5 devices have already exceeded the capacity of IPv4. You cannot continue to ignore IPv6 because sooner or later it will be thrusted on you.

It is very clear to me that if Antigua and Barbuda does not jump on the IPv6 bandwagon, we will find ourselves relegated to the rugged byways of the internet instead of speeding down the information superhighway. This has implications for education, ecommerce, research and security.

Antigua and Barbuda was one of the first countries in the Caribbean to deploy IPv4 back in 1995, and once again we have the chance of being a leader. Being a leader with IPv4 technology back then was what gave rise to Antigua and Barbuda’s leadership in the online gaming market. I believe that once again, Antigua and Barbuda could look very attractive to the world as a hub for technological innovation.

If for no other reason, IPv6 fixes a lot of issues that are endemic to IPv4. For example VoIP has challenges with IPv4 natting. There is also improved throughput performance with IPv6.

Quite surprisingly, IPv6 is extremely easy to deploy. Many IT professionals shy away from IPv6 because of the seemingly scary 128bit addressing. However, once you get into IPv6 is it very easy to administer.

You will however, have to adjust your thinking from a scarcity mindset to a that of abundance when working with IPv6 and that may be an initial challenge for some.

I have been running IPv6 in my company, Pegasus Technologies Inc for over 4 years now and we love it.

As president of the Antigua and Barbuda IPv6 Council, I aim to build a coalition of likeminded individuals who share the vision to “Make Antigua and Barbuda Great Again” in the technology space. We are looking for individuals who would commit to doing what they can to influence wide adoption of IPv6 in this country and the wider Caribbean. We do not wish to be on the wrong side of the Digital Divide.

I encourage everyone of you to go to the Antigua and Barbuda IPv6 Council’s website https://ipv6.ag and register for our upcoming online Caribbean IPv6 Summit 2025 which will be held on the 10th September, 2025.

There is a bevy of international experts that you can interact with to learn the ins and outs of IPv6.

Seats are limited so you better register now!

Yves R. Ephraim
President
Antigua and Barbuda IPv6 Council