Coming This Summer: US Will Run Out of Internet Addresses

The American Registry for Internet Numbers, the US organization that distributes some of the Internet’s most important virtual property, is running out of inventory.

Some savvy companies have been stocking up, but the shortage could mean headaches -- and significant costs -- for US businesses looking to expand on the Internet. The limited supply of new Internet Protocol addresses is nearly gone. Asia essentially ran out in 2011, and Europe a year later. North America’s allotment is due to dry up this summer. The shortage puts companies that maintain their own large and growing Internet presence at the biggest risk, especially providers of cloud-computing services. Such companies could find themselves saddled with unexpected costs, technical problems or simply an inability to serve new customers. Those that aren’t building out their own data centers won’t face the shortage directly, but their online providers likely will.