New site on the block www.broadband.org.au has been around for just six weeks and in the early days of its launch was attracting about 25 unique users a day.
However, a spike of 650 unique users hit the site the day Telstra announced it was restricting downloads on its Freedom Plan to three gigabytes a month, according to site's webmaster Adrian Sobotta.
"Unique users have been growing exponentially," Sobotta told ZDNet.
Whilst fresh traffic to the site is now petering off to around 450 unique hits a day, Sobotta claims unique users to the site continue to grow.
Sobotta described Telstra's actions as "a terrible blow" for the site -- a hub of information for those caught up in the broadband culture -- but believes there is enough room for the site to succeed without extra growth in unique users.
Another meeting point for broadband users, www.whirlpool.net.au, has also seen a significant rise in traffic since Telstra announced it was capping Freedom Plan downloads to three gigabytes a month.
The whirlpool site has had a foothold in the online arena since 1998.
There are currently over 3000 subscribed users of the site, almost half of them regular visitors, according to the site's webmaster Simon Wright.
"Thanks to Telstra's recent announcement, there's been a monstrous increase in readership and around 300 new subscribers," Wright said.
Wright describes Telstra's move to cap downloads as "overly restrictive" and "not in tune with reality".
"It's a shame Telstra is doing this," Sobotta added. "We want the broadband culture to flourish and expand as quickly as it can."
"I think if other broadband players try to follow Telstra, Australia will become a significant joke as far as broadband is concerned internationally."
yes the cap limit is absoulute crap
at the cost per month etc
the use should be open free access to everything
the user is paying good price for the service
and is getting limitations in return
tis not on !!