Interpretation of the "Three-Year Special Action Plan for Improving IPv6 Traffic (2021-2023)"

The large-scale deployment and application of IPv6 is an inevitable trend in the evolution and upgrading of the Internet, an important direction for network technology innovation, and a key support for the construction of a cyber power. In order to thoroughly implement the "Action Plan for Promoting the Large-Scale Deployment of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)" issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has organized special actions for the large-scale deployment of IPv6 for three consecutive years since 2018 to promote the comprehensive construction of my country's IPv6 network "highway". In order to accelerate the promotion of my country's IPv6 from "access" to "open to traffic", the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Central Cyberspace Affairs Office recently issued the "Three-Year Special Action Plan for Improving IPv6 Traffic (2021-2023)", focusing on the overall goal of increasing IPv6 traffic, and clarifying the key development tasks for the next three years, marking that my country's IPv6 development has officially entered the "traffic improvement" era after key stages such as network readiness and end-to-end connectivity. Relevant responsible comrades from the Information and Communications Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology interpreted the relevant contents of the "Special Action Plan":

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1. What is the background of the launch of the Special Action Plan? What are its characteristics?

IPv6 is the next generation Internet protocol version developed by the International Organization for Standardization (IETF) (Internet Task Force). It can provide sufficient network address resources and broad innovation space, and is globally recognized as the next generation Internet commercial application solution. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have always attached great importance to the development of IPv6. In November 2017, the two offices issued the "Action Plan", which clarified the roadmap and timetable for promoting the large-scale deployment of IPv6. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology conscientiously implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, closely followed the three-stage development goals of the "Action Plan", and followed the step-by-step promotion work ideas of achieving the "usable, easy to use, popular, and fully usable" IPv6 network. In the early stage, through the implementation of a series of special projects such as "IPv6 network readiness" and "IPv6 end-to-end through-capability improvement", it focused on the core issues such as network performance optimization, application infrastructure acceleration, industry application transformation, and terminal capability support, and achieved remarkable results. As of the end of April 2021, the number of users in my country who have obtained IPv6 addresses has increased from 74 million at the end of 2017 to 1.54 billion; network infrastructure such as backbone networks, mobile core networks, metropolitan area networks, and Internet backbone direct connection points fully support IPv6 and carry IPv6 services; more than 50% of cloud service available domains support IPv6, and the content distribution network (CDN) IPv6 service acceleration capabilities have covered major provinces and cities across the country; mainstream mobile terminals in the market all support IPv6, and basic telecommunications operators such as China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom have also completed the IPv6 upgrade and transformation of all qualified existing home gateways; the IPv6 traffic of LTE core networks and fixed networks exceeds 10Tbps. It can be said that China's IPv6 network "highway" has been fully built.

Although the overall development of IPv6 in my country has shown a clear positive trend, and the number of users and network scales are also among the highest in the world, we must also realize that the proportion of IPv6 traffic in my country is still far behind that of the world's leading countries. There are problems such as low concentration of IPv6 in commercial Internet applications, insufficient IPv6 support capabilities of home terminals, and IPv6 service performance of application infrastructure that needs to be enhanced. The next three years will be a critical stage for my country's IPv6 to move from "access" to "opening to traffic". The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Central Cyberspace Affairs Office jointly issued the "Special Action Plan" this time, with the aim of guiding all parties in the industry to work together to deepen the large-scale deployment of IPv6, make up for the shortcomings of my country's IPv6 development, promote the continuous improvement of IPv6 traffic scale, and accelerate the smooth evolution and upgrade of the Internet to IPv6.

The Special Action Plan issued this time has the following two main features:

First, we should pay attention to the continuity of policies. The Special Action Plan is based on the implementation results of the previous series of special actions, such as "IPv6 Network Readiness" and "IPv6 End-to-End Connectivity Improvement". It summarizes experience, finds deficiencies, analyzes the root causes, and proposes development goals and key tasks for the next three years in view of the shortcomings and weaknesses and the development direction of the new era. From "network readiness" to "end-to-end connectivity" and then to "traffic improvement", it reflects that China's IPv6 development fully follows the technical development laws of network evolution, proceeds step by step, and determines the corresponding development priorities for different development periods, ensuring the continuity, stability and sustainability of policies.

Second, we should focus on the coordination of links. In addition to continuing to put forward new task requirements in the fields of network infrastructure, application infrastructure, terminals, security, etc., the "Special Action Plan" also makes deployments in commercial Internet applications, industrial Internet, smart home system platforms, and "IPv6+" network technology innovation, striving to coordinate and promote key links to achieve IPv6 traffic growth and high-quality development.

2. What are the main goals of the Special Action Plan for my country's large-scale deployment of IPv6 in the next three years?

At present, my country's IPv6 users and network scale are among the highest in the world, and IPv6 traffic and business carrying capacity have also been greatly improved, but the overall proportion of IPv6 traffic is still low. How to make IPv6 go from "access" to "open to traffic" is the core issue facing us at present and in the future. To this end, the "Special Action Plan" focuses on the overall goal of increasing IPv6 traffic, and proposes quantitative targets in terms of network and application infrastructure service performance, IPv6 concentration of major commercial Internet applications, and the proportion of terminal devices supporting IPv6. By the end of 2021, it is expected that the proportion of IPv6 traffic in mobile networks will exceed 20%, the scale of IPv6 traffic in fixed networks will increase by more than 20% compared with the end of 2020, the IPv6 concentration of the TOP100 commercial Internet applications by user volume will exceed 40%, and the proportion of fixed terminals with IPv6 addresses will exceed 70%; by the end of 2023, the proportion of IPv6 traffic in mobile networks will exceed 50%, the scale of IPv6 traffic in fixed networks will reach more than three times that of the end of 2020, the IPv6 concentration of the TOP100 commercial Internet applications by user volume will exceed 70%, and the proportion of fixed terminals with IPv6 addresses will exceed 80%.

3. What are the key tasks set out in the Special Action Plan?

The "Special Action Plan" takes increasing traffic as its main goal, improving user experience and creating a good development environment for IPv6 as its starting point, insists on development and security at the same time, focuses on problems, and implements policies in a classified manner. It puts forward 13 work requirements and task measures from four aspects: infrastructure, application ecology, terminals, and security.

In terms of infrastructure, the "Special Action Plan" will shift the focus from early infrastructure construction to improving IPv6 service capabilities, focusing on solving problems such as the limited scope of IPv6 services, low service performance, and insufficient bandwidth resources: First, improve the IPv6 service capabilities of network infrastructure, and deploy IPv6 simultaneously in new gigabit optical networks, 5G networks, etc.; newly opened home broadband, enterprise broadband and dedicated line services should support IPv6, and in principle, no longer provide IPv4 single-stack dedicated line expansion; optimize the IPv6 single-stack dedicated line opening process and provide preferential tariffs. Second, optimize the IPv6 acceleration performance of the content distribution network, complete the IPv6 upgrade and transformation of all CDN nodes, and support the content return function based on IPv6; new CDN nodes should support IPv6 by default; IPv6 application acceleration performance is not lower than IPv4. Third, expand the IPv6 coverage of the cloud platform, complete the IPv6 upgrade and transformation of all available domains of the public cloud; new cloud products should support IPv6 by default; all cloud service performance is not lower than IPv4. Fourth, accelerate the in-depth transformation of IPv6 in data centers and improve the process of opening IPv6 services in data centers; new data centers should support IPv6 by default. Fifth, enhance the IPv6 resolution capability of domain name resolution servers, continuously improve IPv6 domain name resolution capability, and optimize IPv6 domain name resolution performance. Through these measures, the accelerated coverage of IPv6 services across the country will be achieved, laying a good foundation for IPv6 service innovation.

In terms of application ecology, the "Special Action Plan" follows the general idea of ​​"driving traffic breakthroughs with applications" and proposes four tasks: First, deepen the IPv6 upgrade and transformation of commercial Internet websites and applications, promote the TOP100 commercial websites and applications to give priority to IPv6 access for all services and functions, increase IPv6 concentration, and complete IPv6 coverage of all provincial administrative units. Second, expand the application of IPv6 in the industrial Internet, accelerate the IPv6 upgrade and transformation of industrial Internet platform software and hardware, and give priority to IPv6 access. Third, improve the IPv6 industry ecology of smart homes, accelerate the IPv6 transformation of smart home system platforms, equipment products, applications, etc.; accelerate the construction of a comprehensive standard system for smart homes. Fourth, promote innovation in IPv6 networks and applications, encourage relevant companies to increase innovation in "IPv6+" network technologies such as IPv6 segment routing (SRv6), and carry out large-scale commercial use of IPv6 network and application innovations.

In terms of terminal equipment, the "Special Action Plan" puts forward specific requirements in terms of terminal type, functional requirements, publicity and promotion, etc., targeting "blocking points" such as low IPv6 support rates in home wireless routers, Internet TV terminals, and Internet of Things terminals, as well as a large number of old terminals on the existing network that need to be upgraded and replaced: First, it requires all types of terminals including home routers, smart TVs, set-top boxes, smart home terminals, and Internet of Things terminal modules to accelerate support for IPv6 and increase the support rate; second, it clearly requires that terminal devices with IP address allocation function should enable the IPv6 address allocation function by default; third, it requires basic telecommunications companies to formulate work plans to accelerate the upgrade and replacement of old terminal equipment; fourth, it requires e-commerce platforms to continue to strengthen publicity and guidance, and give priority to recommending terminal devices that support IPv6 to users.

In terms of security assurance, the Special Action Plan adheres to the principle of simultaneously advancing the planning, construction, and operation of network security systems, proposes strengthening IPv6 network security management and supporting transformation, and continuously promotes the development of IPv6 security products and services to ensure the safe, reliable, and smooth evolution of the Internet in an IPv6 environment.

Fourth, the "Special Action Plan" deploys to increase the innovation of "IPv6+" network technology. What is "IPv6+"? What is the significance of promoting "IPv6+"?

"IPv6+" is a next-generation Internet technology innovation system based on IPv6, including protocol innovations represented by SRv6, network slicing, flow detection, BIERv6 and APN6, technical innovations represented by network intelligence such as network analysis and automatic tuning, and business innovations with 5G bearer and cloud-network integration as key application scenarios. By guiding the upgrading of the IPv6/"IPv6+" industry, on the one hand, it can meet the network requirements of 5G bearer and cloud-network integration, such as flexible networking, rapid service provisioning, on-demand services, and differentiated guarantees, simplify network operation and maintenance, and optimize user experience. On the other hand, taking the large-scale deployment of IPv6 as an opportunity, actively carrying out experimental verification and application demonstration of new network technologies and applications can effectively promote the improvement of my country's international competitiveness in the field of next-generation Internet and enhance my country's technical discourse power in the field of Internet.

To this end, the "Special Action Plan" follows the promotion strategy of "promoting consensus, setting standards, setting benchmarks, and promoting" to gradually and orderly promote "IPv6+" network and technology innovation. First, give full play to the role of government guidance, and clearly propose to accelerate the progress of "IPv6+" network technology innovation, technology research and development, and standard research such as IPv6 segment routing (SRv6), expand the existing network pilot and gradually achieve large-scale deployment. Second, accelerate the development of technical standards, standardize the research and development and promotion of IPv6 application innovation, and clearly propose to strengthen the development of industry standards in the fields of IPv6 monitoring and evaluation, "IPv6+" new technologies, and IPv6 single-stack applications, and actively promote the construction of relevant national standards. Third, increase the "IPv6+" application pilot, and stimulate the vitality of IPv6 application innovation of market entities by organizing and carrying out activities such as the collection of excellent cases of IPv6 large-scale deployment and IPv6 innovation competitions, so as to form a replicable and popularizable application model.

5. How to implement the tasks of the Special Action Plan and what are the safeguards?

The "Special Action Plan" proposes four guarantee measures to comprehensively ensure the implementation of relevant tasks from the aspects of policies, management, standards and publicity.

First, we will strengthen organizational guarantees, give full play to the role of government leadership and expert think tanks, strengthen problem orientation, form a closed-loop management system that organizes assessments, promptly discovers problems, and supervises rectification, to ensure that each key task is implemented in detail; strengthen and improve IPv6-related requirements in various management regulations, and guide and urge various responsible entities to implement IPv6 work requirements from the industry supervision level. In particular, it is proposed to revise the relevant radio management regulations and technical requirements for wireless LANs to explicitly support IPv6, which is of great significance for filling the shortcomings of IPv6 terminals.

The second is to carry out supervision and inspection, requiring relevant local competent departments to rely on the national IPv6 development monitoring platform to conduct daily supervision and random inspections on the implementation of key tasks of relevant enterprises in their jurisdiction, and submit regular progress reports.

The third is to strengthen standard guidance and require standardization organizations to continue to accelerate the development of standards in the fields of IPv6 monitoring and evaluation, IPv6+ new technologies, IPv6 single stack applications, etc., provide guidance for IPv6 deployment and application promotion, and at the same time support scientific research institutions, enterprises, etc. to deeply participate in IPv6 international standardization work.

Fourth, we will strengthen publicity and promotion . Through activities such as collecting outstanding cases and IPv6 application innovation competitions, we will publicize and promote outstanding experiences and practices, stimulate the vitality of IPv6 application innovation by market players, and form a replicable and popularizable application model. By doing a good job in publicity and public opinion guidance, we will enhance the social awareness and influence of IPv6 in multiple ways.