EarthLink Inc. Monday proclaimed
it attained a 100,000-broadband-customer milestone, effectively doubling
its high-speed subscriber base since April.
The nation’s top independent Internet service provider utilized a series of
promotional campaigns to add 50,000 new broadband users to its core
services in less than four months. EarthLink also
expanded its broadband footprint from 30 cities to more than 60 U.S.
markets in the same time frame.
The expanded service area, coupled with an aggressive series of digital
subscriber line marketing campaigns fueled EarthLink’s strong broadband growth.
Mike Lunsford, EarthLink executive vice president of broadband services,
said its customer-centric approach continues to pay big dividends to the ISP.
“We’ve greatly increased the availability of our DSL self-installs to help
get customers connected faster,” Lunsford said. “We’ve made firewall
software available to all of our broadband customers to ensure their online
safety, and we’ve significantly reduced the cost of connecting via DSL.”
In April EarthLink announced that it would waive all setup, equipment, and
installation fees on its DSL service nationwide. The offer allows members
to save up to $300 in initial fees when they sign up for EarthLink’s $50 a
month consumer service.
Next, the company launched an aggressive print and radio advertising
campaign promoting availability of its self-install DSL kits in nine major
markets. The splitterless install kits cut DSL provisioning time in half
and the offer was extended nationwide. At the same time, EarthLink reduced
its DSL access fees to less than $40 a month.
In August, EarthLink introduced a cross-platform nationwide broadband
security solution for all new and existing DSL customers. By offering DSL
subscribers free firewalling, the company provided a simple software
barrier against unwelcome intrusion and heightened customer loyalty to its
high-speed services.
EarthLink launched its national broadband rollout to Los Angeles, New York
City, Dallas and Charlotte, NC in October 1999. The company forged
agreements with Genuity Inc. and Sprint Corp. for national DSL network
services.
EarthLink is the preferred ISP partner for Sprint, which
co-brands the company’s high-speed services under a program dubbed Sprint Broadband Direct. Over
several years, Sprint has invested more than $431 million in EarthLink,
accounting for a near 27 percent stake in the national ISP.
Based in Atlanta, EarthLink currently provides Internet access to more than
3.7 million users. In June, the company announced plans to acquire
Virginia-based OneMain.com. The move
extends EarthLink’s services into rural and smaller metropolitan markets
nationwide.
