In what may be a sign that the network industry is finally getting serious about IPv6, providers of network analysis tools and training systems say sales are up for their offerings that support IPv6, the next generation of the Internet Protocol.

Both Native6, a provider of IPv6 training services, and ClearSight, a provider of IPv6-compliant network analysis tools, report increased sales among U.S. Department of Defense contractors, network vendors and companies located outside the U.S.

Much of the interest in IPv6 is the result of a Defense Department mandate that all of its network hardware and software must be IPv6 compliant by 2008.

"Since the [Defense Department] announcement, we've certainly seen a greater level of interest in our services," says Yurie Rich, president of Native6. "Our sales in 2004 are quadruple those of a year ago."

IPv6 vendors are also seeing a growing demand for their products among companies located outside the U.S. ClearSight, for example, has NTT as its largest customer and is selling systems to Japan Airlines, Honda, Toyota and Hitachi.

"We're very, very bullish about sales in Asia for 2005," says Bill Berkman, ClearSight's vice president of marketing. "But our forecasts coming from sales partnerships that deal heavily with the government market are also strong."

Developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force, IPv6 promises easier administration, tighter security and an enhanced addressing scheme over IPv4, the Internet's current protocol. IPv6, which uses a 128-bit addressing scheme, supports a virtually limitless number of uniquely identified systems on the 'Net, while IPv4 supports only a few billion systems because it uses a 32-bit addressing scheme.

Finalized a decade ago, IPv6 has not yet been adopted in the U.S. although it is slightly more popular in Europe and Asia. Sales of IPv6 offerings such as training and network analysis tools could be early indicators that the IPv6 market is starting to pick up momentum.

Native6 is selling its training services to a number of Defense Department agencies along with manufacturers of IPv6-capable products such as Cisco and HP. Native6 offers several training courses that help network engineers learn how to build and integrate IPv6 networks.