TODAY marks the start of a new phase in the internet and opens the way for trillions more devices to connect to the web.
The introduction of internet protocol version six, known as the World IPv6 Launch, encourages businesses and web users to switch on the new protocol after a successful one-day trial last June.
While more than 4 billion IP addresses were made available in the first protocol, known as IPv4, they ran out in February 2011.
''The next-generation internet protocol, which provides more than 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses, will connect the billions of people not connected today, allow a huge range of devices to connect directly with one another, and help ensure the internet can continue its current growth rate indefinitely,'' the global Internet Society said.
Cisco estimates there will be at least 19 billion internet connections by 2016.
In Australia, internet providers such as Telstra, Optus, iiNet, Internode and Pipe Networks have upgraded to the new protocol and consumers are unlikely to notice any changes in their service. Unlike the millennium bug, also known as Y2K, there was no deadline for IPv6 and most networks are likely to use IPv4 and IPv6 for many more years.
A spokesman from the Australian Government Information Management Office said the government was on track to have all external-facing websites using IPv6 by the end of this year.