Northland's homegrown, non-government-funded, independent and decidedly ewenique broadband company, Uber, was kinda puzzled why someone would want to start a new business in Whangarei with the same name and a really similar brand look to ours - just around the corner.

Naturally we whistled up the lawyers.

Then it struck us that wasn't a very 'Uber' way of doing things at all. Since we started 15 years ago we've always been different, pushed the boundaries with our technology and systems and found our own ewenique and fun way of doing things. And here we were behaving all corporate-like and doing what anyone else would do, like, er, sheep.

The prospect of a long drawn out court battle sounded grim, so we decided to use a fraction of the $$ that would cost and have some fun instead - and see how fast we can build a distinctive brand. Which we will put to good use.

So we haven't gone baaaa-rking mad - we aim to create some laughs at our own expense (and others') and lighten the mood.

And of course, if you want Northland's best broadband, then www.ewebaanet.nz is the place to look.