Earthlink 2009 Annual Report Download - page 8

Table of Contents
Group, Inc. ("Covad"), Qwest Corporation ("Qwest") and Verizon Communications Inc. ("Verizon") that allow us to provide DSL services. We
have agreements with Time Warner Cable that allow us to provide broadband services over Time Warner Cable's and Bright House Networks'
cable network in substantially all their markets and with Comcast Corporation ("Comcast") that allow us to provide broadband services over
Comcast's cable network in certain Comcast markets. We rely on Covad's line-
powered voice access to provide our EarthLink DSL and Home
Phone Service. The following summarizes the contract expiration dates for our largest providers of broadband access:
We maintain a leased backbone consisting of a networked loop of connections between multiple cities and our technology centers. We
maintain data centers in multiple locations with redundant systems to provide service availability and connectivity.
Competition
Access and service.
We operate in the Internet access services market, which is extremely competitive. We compete directly or indirectly
with established online services companies, such as AOL and the Microsoft Network; national communications companies and local exchange
carriers, such as AT&T, Qwest and Verizon; cable companies providing broadband access, including Charter Communications, Inc., Comcast,
Cox Communications, Inc. and Time Warner Cable; local and regional ISPs; free or value-
priced ISPs, such as United Online, Inc. which
provides services under the brands Juno and NetZero; wireless Internet service providers; content companies, such as Google and Yahoo!; and
satellite and fixed wireless service providers. Competitors for our VoIP services include established telecommunications and cable companies;
ISPs; leading Internet companies; and companies that offer VoIP services as their primary business, such as Vonage. Current and prospective
competitors for our access services include many large companies that have substantially greater market presence and greater financial,
technical, marketing and other resources than we have. Competition in the market for access services is likely to continue increasing, and
competition could cause us to decrease the pricing of our services, increase churn of our existing customers, increase operating costs or decrease
the number of subscribers we are able to add.
We experience pricing pressures for certain of our consumer access services, particularly our consumer broadband services, due to
competition, volume-
based pricing and other factors. Some providers have reduced and may continue to reduce the retail price of their Internet
access services to maintain or increase their market share, which could cause us to reduce, or prevent us from raising, our prices. We may
encounter further market pressures to: migrate existing customers to lower-
priced service offerings; restructure service offerings to offer more
value; reduce prices; and respond to particular short-term, market-
specific situations, such as special introductory pricing or new product or
service offerings. Any of the above could adversely affect our revenues and profitability.
We believe the primary competitive factors in the Internet access service industry are price, speed, features, coverage area and quality of
service. While we believe our Internet access services compete favorably based on some of these factors when compared to some Internet access
providers, we are at a competitive disadvantage relative to some or all of these factors with respect to some of our competitors. Our dial-
up
Internet access services do not compete favorably with broadband services with respect to speed, and dial-
up Internet access services no longer
have a significant, if any, price advantage over certain
4
Broadband Network Provider
Contract Expiration
Comcast Corporation
December 2010
Verizon Communications Inc.
March 2011
Covad Communications Group, Inc.
April 2011
AT&T Inc.
May 2011
Time Warner Cable/Bright House Networks
November 2011
Qwest Corporation
November 2012