Earthlink 2011 Annual Report Download - page 11

Table of Contents
network consultants and other telecommunications and IT consultants to businesses. Our authorized dealers and agents receive commissions
based on services sold, usage volume and customer retention.
We market our wholesale Business Services through a dedicated direct sales force. We generally enter into master service agreements with
our wholesale services customers that have terms ranging from one to five years.
Customer Service and Retention
We believe that our customizable communications portfolio, blend of access technologies for connectivity and new portfolio of cloud and
managed IT services are key differentiators that can help us build long-
term customer relationships. We believe that offering a bundled package
of communications and IT services to our business customers increases retention rates and limits customer churn. Additionally, with our revised
sales structure, we have more distinct sales and support roles that we believe will improve customer retention. With our recently launched
nationwide service, we also launched myLink
TM
, a new, secure customer portal, which provides customers with a centralized tool for self-
service applications, reporting and management features 24/7. We are also seeking to improve customer response times through internal training
programs and integrated billing, support and sales systems. We reinforce our strategy through compensation programs that reward our sales and
account management staff based on customer retention and revenue growth.
Network Infrastructure
We provide our communications services primarily through a nationwide MPLS network, a fiber optic network and switching and
colocation facilities. We have four enterprise-
class data centers on our fiber network. We have integrated our data center footprint with our
MPLS connectivity platform and high capacity national backbone, allowing us to expand our ability to deliver a suite of cloud services to the
market.
Nationwide MPLS Network.
Our nationwide MPLS network is comprised of a mix of ATM and IP switches in locations across the U.S.
We lease network access facilities from other providers in order to connect customers to our services. We have interconnection agreements with
all major local exchange carriers to lease unbundled network elements, as well as commercial services agreements with national communications
companies, CLECs, and cable and wireless service providers to provide last mile access to our customers and connectivity onto our network.
Fiber Optic Network.
As of December 31, 2011, our advanced fiber optic network consisted of 28,804 route miles (including 3,945
marketed and managed route miles) covering 25 states and 90 metro fiber rings. The network was built or acquired through direct construction
and long-term dark fiber leases or indefeasible rights-of-use agreements.
Switching and Colocation Facilities.
The network design, together with interconnection agreements with the incumbent local telephone
companies, such as AT&T and Verizon, enables us to be a provider of local and long distance telephone services nationwide. Switches are the
primary electronic components that connect customers to our network and transmit data and voice communications over our network. All of our
switches are capable of handling both data and local and long distance voice traffic.
We have colocated communications equipment within the central offices of ILECs in various markets in the United States. Colocation
enables us to provide remote facilities-
based local and long distance services in markets where we do not have switches, by using our switches in
other locations as hosts. To provide these remote services, we use our fiber optic network and leased facilities to connect our remote equipment
to our switches when it is economically and operationally advantageous for us to do so. Colocation also provides us efficient access to last mile
facilities to connect to customers.
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