CenturyLink Joins in World IPv6 Day

MONROE, La. -- CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL - News) announced that it will join the Internet community as a World IPv6 Day participant. On June 8, 2011, CenturyLink™ Business will participate in what is described as a "test flight" to ensure a successful transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6). As a leading provider of IPv6 services, CenturyLink is helping to jump start adoption of IPv6 while also creating a transition path for business customers to embrace the new Internet addressing system.

"CenturyLink is continuing its leadership as a network operator by participating in this historic event," said Pieter Poll, senior vice president of network planning engineering and construction for CenturyLink. "The groundwork that comes out of World IPv6 Day will help set the stage for worldwide adoption of the evolving Internet. IPv6 will enable greater security and allow for convergence in ways we can only now imagine."

Organized by The Internet Society (ISOC), World IPv6 Day is a 24-hour trial to motivate Internet service providers, network operators, operating system vendors and web companies to prepare their services for an almost limitless supply of IPv6 addresses and ensure a successful transition as the world's supply of IPv4 address space runs out. Transitioning to IPv6 will take time, as the new protocol is not backward compatible with IPv4. For this reason, the two protocols will coexist while networking devices are enabled to seamlessly support both. CenturyLink and all other World IPv6 Day participants will also gather input on its network and the customer experience in order to gain best practices and improvements for deployment as adoption of IPv6 becomes ubiquitous.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL)