Earthlink 2006 Annual Report Download - page 10

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Marketing Channels
Our sales and marketing efforts consist of the following programs:
Advertising. We advertise our services in print, billboard, electronic and broadcast media. We utilize various campaigns which may
include national and regional television, radio, print and Internet ads. Our campaigns may also include sponsorships of various community
programs and sporting events.
Direct Marketing. We promote our services directly to customers in the form of direct mail offers, which generally advertise a free or
discounted trial period to incent consumers to sign-up for our services, and through promotional inserts in packages, periodicals and
newspapers.
Original Equipment Manufacturers. We have marketing arrangements with a number of leading hardware and software manufacturers
to include our Internet access software pre-installed on or included with their products. Our hardware and software manufacturing partners
include, among numerous others, Dell Inc. (“Dell”) and Hewlett Packard.
Retail. We market our products and services through retail outlets such as Best Buy, Fry’s, Circuit City, RadioShack, Staples and
OfficeMax.
Affinity Marketing.
Our affinity marketing partners include many AAA clubs, AARP and several airlines including Delta, Northwest and
Southwest. Partners typically bundle our Internet access software with their own goods or services to create a package that promotes EarthLink
to potential customers.
Network Infrastructure
We provide subscribers with Internet access through both EarthLink-managed facilities and third-party telecommunications service
providers. Approximately 95% and 92% of the U.S. population can access our premium-priced and value-priced access services, respectively,
through a local telephone call. We have developed, maintain and operate a network of approximately 11,000 access numbers and maintain
additional access numbers for backup and other purposes.
We maintain a leased backbone connecting multiple cities and our technology centers. Our backbone is a networked loop of connections
that we have acquired the right to use. Through a combination of backbone, peering and transit, our network is capable of supporting more than
five gigabits per second of traffic at peak.
We have network service agreements with Level 3 Communications, Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. (“Verizon”), Qwest Corporation
(“Qwest”) and other carriers to provide dial-up services. We have agreements with Covad Communications Group, Inc. (“Covad”), AT&T Inc.
(“AT&T”), Qwest and Verizon that allow us to provide DSL services. We also have agreements with Time Warner Cable, Bright House
Networks and Comcast Corporation (
“Comcast”) that allow us to provide broadband services over each company’s cable network in
substantially all Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks markets and certain Comcast markets.
New Edge’s network is comprised of ATM/frame relay/DSL switches in central office collocations. In addition, New Edge has access
under wholesale agreements to additional unique central offices throughout the U.S. It has interconnection agreements with all major local
exchange carriers to lease DSL and T-1 unbundled network elements, as well as commercial services agreements with regional bell operating
companies (“RBOCs”), competitive local exchange carriers (“CLECs”), and cable and satellite service providers to provide last mile
connectivity onto its network. Taken together, the network provides coverage via frame relay, DSL, and/or T-1 access to service small and
medium sized businesses and carriers alike.
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