With Telecom promising naked DSL by December, the broadband market looks set to (finally!) heat-up. But many users will find themselves trapped by their old email accounts. That's why you should start preparing now.

The problem's simple: wherever you are now you're almost certainly using an email address in the format username@current-ISP.co.nz. But what happens if you change Internet Service Providers? If you opt for Orcon over Xtra, for example? Or iHug over Telstra? It suddenly becomes a hassle because you need to warn everyone on your mailing list that you're now username@new-ISP.co.nz. If you run a small business that might also mean updating business cards, stationery, flyers and even advertising. And what then if, six months down the track, you're courted by even-newer-ISP.co.nz...?

The traditional solution is to use a free email account from the likes of Gmail, Hotmail or Mail.com, but they have their limitations. First, there are often some pretty onerous terms and conditions attached to their use -- Google's Gmail for example has three separate documents (1, 2, 3). Second, they're really popular which means it's really unlikely you'll snag a memorable mailbox name. (After all, who wants to be johnsmith63787@gmail.com?) Third, they don't look very professional. Free email accounts are often used by bogus businesses and Nigerian scammers. And finally, they can sometimes be tricky to integrate into non-Web-based email programs.

So what's the real solution? Simple. Buy your own domain name.

For around $1 a week you could own www.johnsmith.co.nz (still available at the time of writing). You don't have to build a website around it -- though of course you can if you want to. The important thing is that the johnsmith.co.nz domain name then belongs to you, and that means that any email sent to anything@johnsmith.co.nz will -- with a simple email redirection setting -- be forwarded to whichever ISP you happen to be using at the moment. If you change ISPs, just change the setting to point at your new one. It really is that simple.

There are other advantages too. You can put anything you like in front of the @ and the mail will still go to you. This can be used as a basis for filtering incoming mail. You might be known as jsmith@... to business contacts and jono@... to your friends, for example. Or you can set up multiple redirects so that mail addressed to NaggingWife@... goes to her-indoors' Xtra account, UnrulyTeen@... goes to the brat's Gmail account and MiserableSod@... goes to you.

You can even set up a cheapskate website on this basis. If your ISP offers free homepages (many still do but you have to ask for them to be activated), you can redirect www.yourdomain.co.nz to point to the homepage address and make it look like you have a proper stand-alone website.

Redirection -- whether it's to a website or email account -- is invisible to your users and correspondents.

So how do you set all this up? Visit a domain name registrar and see what they offer. The best local deal I've spotted so far comes from RegisterDirect where, for $59.95 a year, you can register a domain name and get unlimited mail forwarding. I'm sure readers will have other suggestions so check the Comments section below.

One final point: once you're set up, don't forget to change your return email address in the Account Settings section of your email package!