Internet Protocol Version 4 exhausts, Version 6 in the offing

In the recent past, Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) was reported by many sources to be on a rapid depletion. The exhaustion of the IPv4 addresses will in turn lead to deployment of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6). Internet protocol is a set of rules and conventions that govern communication of computing devices over the internet whereas an IP address is a unique number assigned to a computing device such as a computer that is interconnected with other computing devices in a network.  The Internet Protocol (IP) space is managed by Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) and local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The fundamental advantage of IPv6 over IPv4 is that the former offers more addresses than the latter.  Should IPv4 addresses exhaust before implementation of IPv6, end to end connectivity that is required by certain applications will not be universally available on the IPv4 Internet. In East Africa, internet usage has been on the increase due to price reductions on voice and data service providers in a battle for supremacy. News about exhaustion of IPv4 addresses has been on the rise on the internet and foreign press but not much of this publicity can be seen or heard on local media. One wonders whether Internet Service Providers and the governments in East Africa have put in place mechanisms for the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. Some of the mechanisms suggested for transition from IPv4 to IPv6 were; Dual IP stack and IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling.