EU: Web address system must arrive sooner

Commission is worried that startup businesses will struggle to find domain names

The EU is worried Europe will run out of internet addresses

Europe must move on to a new internet address system as quickly as possible, according to the European Commission.

The Commission is worried that startup business will struggle to find domain names, leading to a stifling of innovation.

A plan sent to the European Parliament sets a target of 25 per cent of web users in the EU to be using the new system by 2010.

"This is very much a case of a stitch in time saves nine," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, in a statement unveiling the plan.

Reding said futuristic systems such as intelligent street lighting and heating systems were already projected to boost demand for internet addresses a thousandfold.

The IPv4 system is running out of capacity, and will be filled by 2011.

A move to the new system – known as IPv6 – will provide limitless addresses.

Governments should migrate their core networks to IPv6 and add a requirement for it to public procurement contracts, says the report.