GSA Denies Charges by DOD Official and Cerf That Networx Carriers Are Ducking IPv6 Work
The agency that runs the federal Networx programs denied allegations -- made first by a member of the Federal IPv6 Working Group and now echoed by Internet pioneer Vint Cerf -- that carrier contractors in the programs have turned away agencies seeking support that the companies have promised for this year’s transition to the new protocol. “The Networx contract fully supports IPv6 services and they can be readily ordered from and fulfilled by the Networx carriers,” a General Services Administration spokeswoman told us by email late last week. “In our role as member and supporter of the Federal Working Group, we have not found an example of a new IPv6 order not being accepted by a Networx carrier. GSA and the Networx carriers have also on several occasions briefed the full Federal IPv6 Working Group on the carriers’ IPv6 capabilities and available agency support."
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But most carriers themselves have not been so prompt to stand up for their own capabilities and work with the technology. One of the five carrier contractors, CenturyLink, has said it’s providing IPv6 support to agencies and offered examples. But in a written statement, another, AT&T would tell us only: “IPv6 is a challenging transition for all service providers and their customers. We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade our network and systems to support IPv6, and our top priority is making this a smooth transition for our customers. We are also working with our government customers on proactive strategies to manage the complex transition to IPv6.” None of the other Networx contractors -- Level 3, Sprint and Verizon -- has replied to our multiple inquiries.
At the gogoNET Live IPv6 conference in San Jose, Calif., Ronald Broersma, a DOD official and working group member, called the federal IPv6 transition a “mess” (CD Nov 3 p8). He said the work is lagging for bureaucratic reasons within agencies and because most of the Networx carriers, formally committed to supporting IPv6, are telling agencies that seek the work not to ask for it. Broersma told us contractors that default on their obligations risk the loss of work under Networx.
"Ron is right -- and the ISPs, with some exceptions, have been using the ‘no one is asking for it’ as an excuse not to roll it out,” Google Vice President Vint Cerf, an architect of the Internet who has beaten the drums many years on the need to move to IPv6, told us by email. “Classic chicken and egg. I would urge you to go to Steven VanRoekel, the new OMB CIO and ask what his take is on this and what his plans are. Early adoption is the only way to find the problems. … We really need to push hard now that we have run out of IPv4 addresses."
An OMB spokeswoman said by email: “The IPv6 Task Force and OMB have been hosting monthly meetings with IPv6 Transition Managers, and OMB is in the process of planning meetings with agency CIOs to review their agency’s IPv6 deployment status. No agency has indicated they will not meet the September 30, 2012 deadline. However, we recommend that you speak directly with agency CIOs regarding their implementation status. … In the coming months, OMB will meet with agency CIOs and work with any agencies that experience challenges with implementation.”