IP Democracy: EarthLink Trying to Shed Dial-Up Image

The LA Times’ James Granelli has this in-depth piece today on EarthLink and the struggles the company faces as it tries to transition from its “dial-up” reputation into a new-era Internet player. EarthLink is pushing into Wi-Fi and other wireless services, as well as VoIP and advanced mobile platforms as a way to mitigate its ongoing loss of traditional ISP customers.

What’s interesting is how much founder and board member Sky Dayton still uses EarthLink as an adjunct to his other entrepreneurial efforts. Case-in-point: Helio, a joint venture between EarthLink and Korean wireless operator SK Telecom, which is headed by Dayton (who along the way also founded Boingo Wireless).

Helio is a 3G wireless service that hopes to capture the youth-oriented market with individualized “lifestyle” offerings — the company announced last week a pact with hot social networking site MySpace.

But EarthLink doesn’t feel pressured to experiment with new options to survive. The company is sitting on a pile of cash and has no debt and is quite happy with just a small slice of the markets it serves.

Update: In another step that takes EarthLink away from its traditional business, the company announced today it will be selling DirecTV video services in a bundle with EarthLink Internet options.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on February 20, 2006 10:45 AM to IP Democracy