By Xie Fang
Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, announced at a news conference Wednesday that it would join hands with China’s three largest network operators to provide customers with Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) services, the China Securities Journal reported on Thursday.
The company disclosed that by cooperating with China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, it has been able to apply the IPv6 technology to mobile devices, the three operators’ networks as well as cloud applications, making it the first Chinese cloud computing service provider to do so.
In fact, with the help of Alibaba Cloud’s IPv6 network, Youku, one of China’s most popular video websites, is now providing its users with a high-definition live broadcast of the on-going World Cup tournament.
As the current IPv4 is running out of its IP addresses, around 4.3 billion in total, the application of the IPv6, which is dubbed the next-generation internet, is becoming even more pressing.
Compared with the IPv4, the IPv6 is capable of providing every grain of sand on earth with an IP address and is superior to the IPv4 in terms of anti-interference, privacy protection, and safety.
More importantly, the IPv6 is of great significance to the development of such emerging industries as internet of things (IoT), internet of vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI).
China rolled out its action plan for promoting the application of the IPv6 nationwide in May, hoping that the number of domestic IPv6 users can surpass 50 million by the end of this year.
“China is among the countries which need the IPv6 the most,” said Wu Hequan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. “Chinese cloud service providers, as represented by Alibaba Cloud, will play a crucial role in the application of the technology.”
According to Cai Yiqun, vice president of the Alibaba Group, Alibaba Cloud has been engaging in the development of the IPv6 since 2012 when the IPv6 network was introduced to the world for the first time.
