Telstra has made Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) connectivity available to more of its business, enterprise and government customers.

The company has launched its IP Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) solutions, now capable of supporting IPv6, enabling Telstra’s medium and large business network customers to opt-into IPv6 connectivity.

IPv6 is the next generation of Internet addresses. It offers new and longer IP addresses to overcome the global IPv4 address shortage.

The deployment of IPv6 in Telstra’s IP VPN follows the availability of its Telstra Internet Direct IPv6 service in September 2011.

“We have a long-term roadmap for deploying IPv6 capability into our networks. The deployment is an on-going program of work, and we’ll make this available for other services such as DSL and our wireless networks over time,” Telstra director of transport and routing engineering, David Robertson, said.

He stated that the company will be dual stacking IPv4 and IPv6 in its network, enabling customers to opt into IPv6 in their own time and according to the lifecycle upgrade of their existing equipment.

Telstra will soon be working with individual customers interested to help them transition to IPv6.

“In coming years we expect that IPv6 will become the norm and customers will need to opt-out if they wish to use IPv4. However in the early phases of the transition, we’ll be working directly with customers to support them as they make this change,” he added.