After 10 years online, Korea faces IP crunch

The rapid expansion of the Internet in Korea over the past decade is leading to a shortage of Internet protocol (IP) addresses, the numbers that identify the sender or receiver of information on the Web, without which one can’t connect to the Internet at all. To date, Korea has obtained 34.8 million IP addresses from the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, an international non-profit agency that allocates space on the Internet to countries. Service providers such as KT, Dacom and Hanato Telecom assign the numbers to homes and offices; about 34 million IP addresses were being used as of early this year. But the industry expects a surge in demand for addresses in the near future, due to digital multimedia broadcasting services, the increased use of mobile Internet and home-networking services, all of which require at least two IP addresses per user. Specialists say Korea will need about 60 million IP addresses by the end of this year. “Since most of the population already has broadband, there will be less demand for regular Internet connections, but new services that will proliferate in the second half of this year will cause a massive shortage,” said Joo Yong-wan, an official at the National Internet Development Agency of Korea. Because of these potential problems, the Information Ministry is seeking to introduce a next-generation IP address system, which involves increasing the current 12-digit Internet address to 48 digits. “This is an immediate issue, since it will take service providers at least two years to change their systems, but companies aren’t responding quickly because it costs a lot of money,” ministry official Ra Bong-ha said. The drought in IP addresses is evidence ― if any were needed ― of how thoroughly Korea has embraced the Internet in the 10 years since it became widely available to the public. According to the Korea Association of Information and Telecommunications, the number of Koreans using the Internet was 360,000 in 1995, the year companies such as portal site operator Daum Communications, security firm AhnLab and the online shopping mall Interpark were launched. By late last year, some 31.6 million people in Korea were online. Improved connection speed has been a major factor in the explosion of the Internet’s popularity. In 1995, data was transmitted at 28.8 kilobytes per second; now, it can be done at 50 megabytes per second, about 1,700 times faster. With telephone modems replaced by broadband, Web content has evolved from plain text to interactive services that support multimedia. “Compared to the United States, Japan, and Europe, Korean Web sites are more sophisticated in terms of form. Other countries are still more text-based,” said Kim Kyung-dal, executive director at Daum Communications. The Internet has dramatically changed Korean lifestyles, as well as the country’s economy and its politics. Online communities, though a worldwide phenomenon, are especially prevalent in Korea, where portals like Cyworld have led to new ideas about “community.” “The dot-com generation socializes differently than the older generation. Their gatherings are based more on tastes, hobbies or ideals,” said Kim Jae-hwi, a psychology professor at Chung-Ang University. “This contrasts sharply with past networks in Korea, which were mainly based on ties formed according to where your hometown was, what school you graduated from, or family connections.” The Internet has also revolutionized shopping. Sales at online shopping malls are on the verge of surpassing those at brick-and-mortar retailers, and the abundance of information is making consumers more knowledgeable. “There is less chance that people will get ripped off, thanks to price-comparison Web sites, and people can easily compare products without having to go to several different shops,” said Lee Suke-kyu, a business management professor at Sungkyunkwan University. Internet trends also helped develop other markets. “The increase in people posting photos on their personal Web sites or blogs has led to a sharp expansion in the camera phone and digital camera market,” said Kwon Ki-deok, a researcher at Samsung Economic Research Institute. Becoming an Internet-savvy country, however, has its downsides. Many start-up firms paid a high price, especially in 2000, when the dot-com bubble burst. And new social problems ― such as online game addiction, Internet gambling, and new concerns about privacy ― sometimes seem to be appearing faster than ethical and social systems can keep up with them. According to the Information ministry, 66 colleges nationwide have created courses in Internet ethics. by Lee Weon-ho, Wohn Dong-hee