Coeur d’Alene-based internet provider Intermax Networks says it will begin enhancing its network soon to create improved and safer internet connections to its 4,000-plus customers.

To support the high demand for the use of high-bandwidth applications, Intermax will begin unrolling internet protocol version 6, known as IPv6, to update the current protocol, IPv4.

The company has committed more than $2.5 million over the last couple of years in preparation for the arrival of the internet’s next version, says company president Mike Kennedy.

Kennedy says the move is more than a “network upgrade.” The most significant feature of IPv6 is enhanced security.

IPv6 is essentially the latest internet protocol version. Internet protocols provide identification and location systems for all online devices. A device’s IP address is used to route user traffic across the internet.

But with an increased demand of internet traffic, tech experts years ago saw that IPv4 eventually would run out of space. IPv4 has an address system that uses numerical identifiers containing 32 numbers, also referred to as bits. IPv6 uses numerical identifiers that will use 128 numerical bits, Kennedy says.

“More unique identifiers essentially means more security,” Kennedy says.

Online users also will experience faster connection speeds with the change to IPv6, and the conversion is expected to be seamless and won’t disrupt customer connectivity.

Intermax’s network ranges from as far north as the Canadian border and as far south as St. Maries, Idaho, Kennedy says.

Kootenai Health and the Coeur d’Alene School District are two of the company’s larger customers. Intermax continues to expand its footprint into more rural areas of North Idaho and in Spokane County. Roughly 25% of its total customer base is located in Bonner and Boundary counties, he says.

Kennedy and two others bought the company in 2006, about five years after it was founded. The company had three employees then. Today, the company has 54 employees, Kennedy says.