A wave of new entrants has joined the so-called “majority IPv6 club,” with eight countries surpassing 50% adoption of the modern internet protocol, according to recent data from the Internet Society. Among the most dramatic changes was in Tuvalu, where the arrival of Starlink—a satellite internet service offered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX—catapulted IPv6 usage from zero to 59% in just a few months.

The Pacific island nation illustrates the growing role of satellite internet in shaping global internet infrastructure. Starlink, which operates on an IPv6-only network, now holds 88% of Tuvalu’s internet market share, effectively transforming the nation’s internet protocol landscape almost overnight.

Other newcomers to the 50%-plus IPv6 deployment club include Brazil, Guatemala, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Sri Lanka. These additions raise the total number of countries surpassing the halfway mark in IPv6 usage to 21, up from 13 just a year ago.

Japan and Puerto Rico notably returned to the club after brief dips below the threshold, while Mexico and Brazil achieved the milestone for the first time. France, meanwhile, has surged to match India at the top of the IPv6 adoption leaderboard, with both nations reaching 73% deployment.

IPv6, which was first allocated in 1999, has been slow to displace its predecessor due to technical workarounds such as Network Address Translation that prolonged the life of IPv4. However, the growing prevalence of IPv6-only services, including Starlink, suggests that the balance may finally be shifting.

If current trends persist, countries like Thailand, Estonia, and the United Kingdom—each hovering just below the 50% threshold—may soon join the majority. As more nations adopt IPv6, the global internet stands to benefit from improved scalability, efficiency, and long-term sustainability.