China has reportedly launched CERNET2, thought to be the world’s largest Internet Protocol Version 6 network, capable of allocating endless Internet Protocol addresses and running on speeds of 10G per second, according to reporting from official Chinese news agencies and other media December 27.
“By creating a digital network in their own homes, in the near future Chinese people could use it to enjoy video and audio communications, information resources, and the benefits of far-away education and health care services,” said the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
"We were a learner and follower in the development of the first generation Internet, but we have caught up with world's leaders in the next-generation Internet, become a first mover, and won respect and attention from the international community," said Wu Jianping, director of the expert committee of the China Education and Research Network (CERNET), to China Daily.
The paper reported a CERNET2 trial December 7 hit a speed of 40GB per second. CERNET2 now ties 25 university campuses in 20 Chinese cities, the paper added, with the so-called backbone network hitting speeds of 2.5-10GB per second and the universities connected at 1-10GB per second.
China’s CERNET2 launch is “breaking the US monopoly and allowing the Communist giant to dramatically narrow its gap with world leaders,” said Rediff, a publication from India.
“The move towards the newer IP version is simple, we're running out of IP numbers,” said Belgian Website DataFuse.net. “IPv4 wasn't developed to handle such a huge amount of users worldwide. IP version 6 should solve this.”
CERNET2’s operationability was announced December 26, the tenth anniversary of the original IPv4 CERNET launched to tie Chinese universities and research institutes and facilities to cyberspace.