MyBroadband

MyBroadband

Screenshot of Mybroadband's homepage.
URL	http://mybroadband.co.za/
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	News and community
Available language(s)	English
Launched	2003
Alexa rank	4,214[1]
Current status	Active

MyBroadband.co.za is an online group (based around an Internet forum), providing South African Internet users with a central vantage point for information on broadband services in the country. Since 2003,^[2] the site has become a major source of information on many computing disciplines related to the Internet and its various uses ranging from gaming, VoIP and more.

The site is funded by advertising revenue, the majority of which is received from telecommunications companies.

MyBroadband is primarily a news site covering IT and Internet (both local and international) related news. The forum gives users a place to air their views and share information; as well as to interact with representatives with various companies (see below).

Focus of site has changed - see about page (it used to be about consumer activism but site evolved) One of the main objectives of MyBroadBand is to change the current South African broadband landscape, focusing particularly on ADSL^{[citation needed]}, which is dominated^{[citation needed]} by the state-controlled monopoly Telkom. One major achievement is that Telkom is, apparently, beginning to recognise MyBroadBand and has met with the forum leaders and discussed the problems the broadband community faces.^{[citation needed]} As of yet, Telkom has yet to yield any significant price decreases or service upgrades, and are still paying lip service to the majority of their ADSL and Telephone customers, which is the norm for a draconian institution such as Telkom.

Broadband Ratings Reports

MyADSL often releases Broadband ratings reports, the latest^[when?] of which is the Wireless Broadband Ratings Report, these reports take into account speed and reliability tests by users of the services in Question. The Vodacom company controversially uses the report to make their advertising claim "The Best Broadband for Your Rand".^{[citation needed]}

MyADSL / MyBroadband Meetings and Conferences

Contributors to the myADSL forum meet at least once a year. The annual conference is usually held in Johannesburg. These gatherings are sponsored by Vodacom.

Official Representatives on the Forum

Many companies, including Neotel, Vodacom, Web Africa, iBurst and MTN, have official representatives on the forum.

Controversies

In its later years mybroadband has been criticised for removing forum posts that are critical of its major advertisers who have people in management positions that are friends with moderators on the forum. The most recent of these when iBurst was accused of illegally erecting a base station. Accusations have been made of unethical behaviour when using a company also owned by the owner of mybroadband to report on site statistics for its advertisers. Competitions are regularly held which have been criticised for not adhering to any laws governing promotional lotteries or competitions.

The company has also changed it's founding principle of being advertising free. In 2009 it included the incumbent Telkom as an advertiser, which was widely criticed among the membership and ultimately resulted in 2 competing forums being set up. Shortly before and after this several of the founding members left or were banned from the site which was also widely criticised on other forums and on blogs. It is now decribed as selling out to the telecoms companies and as a commercial news site that no longer has the interests of South African consumers at heart.

The site now has its own parody site, kakkerlakker.com.

News

The MyBroadBand homepage provides technology and telecommunication news for South Africa in general, and has become a popular source of information, and is included in the Google News searches.

Additionally MyBroadBand publishes Podcasts on a regular basis, detailing the happenings of the telecoms industry in South Africa. MyPodcast

Related Sites and Organisations

• Hellkom
• Antitrust
• BBLounge

See also

• Hellkom
• Telkom

References

1. ^ "Site info for mybroadband.co.za". Alexa. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/mybroadband.co.za. Retrieved 24 May 2011. 
2. ^ "About Mybroadband". Mybroadband. http://mybroadband.co.za/general/about.htm. Retrieved 24 May 2011. 

External links

• MyBroadBand Homepage and news
• Forums, an integral part of the community