Apr, 2002 : Level 3 Provides Hosting and Services for EarthLink

📅 April 29, 2002 - Communications and information services company Level 3 Communications Inc. (level3.com) announced on Monday that it has signed new agreements to provide private line, collocation and Internet access services to Internet service provider EarthLink.

EarthLink, says Level 3, has purchased the company's (3)Link Private Line services connecting 18 US markets and (3)Center Colcation space in 14 US markets as well as extending its commitment for (3)CrossRoads Internet access service.
According to Level 3, the new service agreements add to the collection of services Level 3 already provides to EarthLink, including (3)Connect Modem, Level 3's softswitch-based dial-up Internet access service.
Level 3 says EarthLink made the decision to purchase the new services in an effort to deliver the highest quality network to its customer base of nearly five million subscribers.
"These new agreements with Level 3 will enable us to expand and optimize our broadband infrastructure," says Steve Dean, vice president of operations business management at EarthLink. "Level 3 is helping us by supplying private lines, colocation space and Internet access that will provide EarthLink with the building blocks we need for improving the speed, capacity and efficiency of our broadband network."
The private line service purchased by EarthLink is known as ?unprotected? service, one of the two classifications provided by Level 3. ?Protected? private line service uses capacity on fiber that Level 3 has backed with an alternate transport path. Unprotected service, says Level 3, will allow EarthLink to design its own protection scheme by creating a new meshed network or adding capacity or protection to its existing network.
"Our disaggregated business model is focused squarely on providing layer three and below broadband services to the top 300 consumers of bandwidth," says Neil Hobbs, group vice president for Level 3. "These new agreements with EarthLink illustrate a buying trend that we're seeing from our carrier, ISP, cable, wireless and satellite customers that allows them to use our services to gain full management control over their networks."