National broadband company Internode has been acknowledged in the Australian New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIA) for its pioneering work in bringing Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) to Australia.

Collaboratively organised by auDA and InternetNZ, the ANZIA presentation is an annual event to celebrate the achievements of organisations, businesses and individuals that have made significant contributions to the development and use of the Internet in Australia and New Zealand.

At the ANZIA gala dinner last night at Melbourne’s Crown Towers, Internode was highly commended \ for its innovative activity in IPv6. In August this year, Internode became the first broadband company in Australia to offer IPv6 as a standard service for both its ADSL and its NBN (National Broadband Network) customers. The company has worked on IPv6 adoption for several years, launching a public trial for its ADSL-based customers in November 2009.Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are the numerical addresses used to identify every device connected to the Internet.

Global allocations of IPv4 addresses are starting to run out this year. Although its replacement, IPv6, is a mature protocol, IPv6 deployment has been limited to date.

Internode managing director Simon Hackett said ANZIA commendation highlighted the need for IPv6 adoption by the Australian Internet industry. “Internode has proved that if IPv6 is done right, then most customers won’t notice the change,” he said.

“Internode has made sure our customers won't be disadvantaged by this large, significant change 'under the hood' of the Internet. We’ve been deploying and testing IPv6 since 2008 and our experience with it is now unrivalled in Australia. We’ve also worked with many major router vendors to ensure that all routers sold by Internode support native dual-stack IPv6.

"Internode is now examining the best ways to support further IPv6-related facilities and services for our customers. Meantime, the fundamentals of our IPv6 service – the native, dual stack IPv6 service itself – is a tested, stable and supported part of the national Internode service.”

About Internode www.internode.on.net

Internode is a national broadband company with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. Already a leading supplier of National Broadband Network (NBN) services, Internode delivers ADSL2+ services nationally and has its own infrastructure at more than 200 exchanges in every state and territory of Australia. Internode offers a wide range of value-added broadband services including more than 400 Internode WiFi hotspots throughout the country, NodeMobile Data 3G wireless broadband, Internode Business Connect Private IP networks, NodePhone VoIP telephony and a pioneering IPTV service through its partnership with FetchTV. Follow Internode online at www.internode.on.net/followus

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