NDRC to inject funds into IPv6-based R&D
By Zhu Boru (China Business Weekly)
Updated: 2004-09-14 14:35

The Chinese Government will increase funding for research and development (R&D) of IPv6-enabled routers to ensure more domestically made routers are adopted in the country's next-generation Internet (NGI), which is under construction.

"The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will earmark about 50 million yuan (US$6.02 million), by the end of this year, to domestic vendors for R&D in IPv6-based routers," said Wang Baiyi, a director of the Ministry of Science and Technology's High-tech Development Centre.

NDRC will invite domestic router vendors to submit bids, and will then provide funding to the winners, Wang said.

The move is aimed at promoting the development of domestically made IPv6-enabled routers, and at helping Chinese vendors grab a larger share of the lucrative market, he said.

IPv6, the core technological protocol for NGI, is designed to solve the possible crisis resulting from the lack of IP addresses, especially in Asia, under the existing IPv4.

Moreover, featuring "always-on (online)," IPv6 is expected to bring profound changes to ordinary people's lives after it is put into wide use.

China has initiated its R&D on IPv6.

The first national NGI network based on IPv6 in China, known as CERNET (China Education and Research Network) 2, has been in operation, for academic use, since last March.

Meanwhile, five major telecoms operators in China -- China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Netcom and China Railcom -- have begun establishing their IPv6-enabled networks nationwide.

The six networks will be pillars for CNGI.

The Chinese Government requires that domestic appliances account for at least 50 per cent of the IPv6-based equipment adopted in China's next-generation Internet (CNGI), Wang said.

"Operators would probably prefer products made by foreign giants for their IPv6-based network, if there's no such rules," he noted.

That is because the operators are inclined to buy routers from their current partners, primarily foreign giants such as Cisco, Toshiba and Juniper, he said.

Moreover, domestically made IPv6-based routers, by far, do not perform well in protection system while in operation, he noted.

Cisco has grabbed about 80 per cent of China's router market for IPv4-enabled Internet, but IPv6 offers new opportunities for domestic vendors, said a CNGI insider, who refused to be named.

It is likely domestic makers will become "the Cisco in the IPv6 era," n he said.

"We are encouraging those firms, with IPv6-related funding under the "863" programme, to participate in the bidding," Wang said.

Those firms include Huawei Technologies, ZTE, BitWay and a company affiliated with the Information Engineering University of the People's Liberation Army, he explained.

Huawei is China's leading router maker. The "863" programme is a State-funded project for high-tech research.

Recent reports by www.sina.com indicate the construction of CNGI's pillar networks is nearly finished, and the operators are expected to invite bids for IPv6-enabled network linking facilities, mainly routers.

The report did not provide a timetable.

The deals will be worth 600 million yuan (US$72.29 million), the report said. Some 1.4 billion yuan (US$168 million) has been allocated for CNGI construction.

The CNGI insider did not confirm the value of the deals, and said it is unclear how much money will go into specific categories.

NDRC has allocated 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) and the five telecoms operators have earmarked a combined 400 million yuan (US$48 million) for the network.

CNGI is to be completed by the end of next year, and is expected to be the largest NGI in the world.

The large-scale commericial operation of CNGI is expected to begin between 2006 and 2008.

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