Yesterday, the IPV4 free pool of addresses fell below 10%. This means, as millions more Indians attempt to get on the internet (both on the mobile or using their computers), they will have to do so using a technology called NAT - Network Address Translation.

Typically, NAT is put in place by your ISP and tries to get around the problem of too less IP addresses. Ordinarily, the growth of broadband and computers is slow enough to be not alarming, but India (and several Asian countries) are unique because we are seeing explosive growth in mobile devices. Once 3G is widely available in India, we will see a huge growth in mobile internet access.

However, NAT ensures that true innovations in internet applications (like location based services, VOIP, etc.) will be stunted.

We need to get on the IPV6 bandwagon NOW. And it will only be possible with government intervention.

And it might already be too late.