With nearly 85% of all available Internet addresses already in use by early 2008, experts believe that, if current trends continue, addresses will run out by 2011.

This could mean that new Internet users or mobile devices will not be able to access the Internet. The answer, argues the report, is Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) which will provide an unlimited number of addresses and help drive the rollout of broadband, Internet-connected mobile phones and the development of new services.

Governments and business should raise awareness of the need to start preparing now for the move to from today’s Internet Protocol version 4 to IPv6, and explain to Internet Service Providers and IT professionals that the move is a commercial and social opportunity, not a financial burden, the OECD argued.

Service providers have to date been reluctant to invest because customer demand for IPv6 is low.

Governments could play a role as large users of Internet services, by stimulating demand for IPv6 through their own procurement policies, and through public-private partnerships in IPv6 research and development, the report states.

The report also considered the alternative to a widespread adoption of IPv6, whereby some regions adopt it and others merely adapt IPv4 as a short-term solution.

This, it warned, would impact the economic opportunities offered by the Internet, with severe consequences in terms of stifled creativity and the deployment of new services.

Some countries have taken a lead in deploying IPv6 networks. Japan was the first country to release a national strategy for IPv6, and the government has funded academic research projects and provided tax incentives to organisations to encourage them to develop new applications.

The United States government has set June 2008 as the deadline by which the Internet network of every government agency must be compatible with IPv6.

The Chinese government has begun rolling out an IPv6 network, called China Next Generation Internet, and will use the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to test mobile devices and intelligent transport and security systems running on IPv6.

Korea, the venue of the forthcoming OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy, has committed to converting Internet equipment in public institutions to IPv6 by 2010 and to installing IPv6 equipment in every newly built communications network.

The European Commission is also funding research projects and looking at ways to speed up deployment.