Datafast acquires broadband.com.au

The deal includes several thousand pre-registrations of interest in broadband as well as the broadband.com.au domain name.

The portal will be revamped in early 2005, with the aim of it becoming a "leading focal point" of broadband Internet and broadband telephony in Australia.

Broadband.com.au is a portal where customers can use the free service to check availability, compare pricing, and find promotional offers from Internet service providers. Businesses can also research and compare services of over 600 ISPs nationally through the portal in order to find the best deals.

Chief executive Simon Ehrenfeld said that the deal formed part of the company's developing voice strategy.

"The project would work well independently, and it could also enjoy success in a combined Chariot-Datafast in light of Chariot's recent Transcom voice announcement."

Eftel general manager John Lane said, they have no plans of changing the character of the portal and that they will only expand to include voice services such as voice over IP.

"At this stage the plans are to expand and build on what's already there. We don't want to change the character of the site, we want to grow it. We want to add its relevance to voice users and we are examining various ways of adding that at the moment. It is still a bit early to make any clear useful statements, but we can assure that we are planning on expanding and not undermining the site," Lane said.

Lane added that it would cost them less to run the portal compared to the previous owners. He said they are not expecting the portal to generate additional revenue in the short term but instead will add more marketing value for Datafast.

Lane said they are also planning to add a directory structure to broadband.com.au so that VoIP users can "find each other". The plans are targeted to start within 12 months.