Blue Beacon Truck Wash Selects EarthLink Business to Implement Nationwide MPLS Network

ATLANTA, July 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- EarthLink, Inc. (NASDAQ: ELNK), a leading IP infrastructure and services company, today announced that Blue Beacon International, Inc., a leading truck wash company with locations throughout the United States and Canada, selected EarthLink Business™ to install its new nationwide MPLS network connecting 118 locations across 38 states.

Dependability, business continuity and network management were the key differentiators that sealed Blue Beacon's decision to replace its Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) network with a private, secure MPLS network from EarthLink Business. Evolving Solutions, an EarthLink Business agent partner, and its subagent Carrier Choice Networks, introduced Blue Beacon to EarthLink Business and the companies worked together to develop a solution for Blue Beacon.

Blue Beacon's new EarthLink Business MPLS network solution will transform the way the truck wash company communicates. Each Blue Beacon location utilizes a blend of ADSL, T-1 and cable to connect into a single managed MPLS network. The network supports mission-critical applications such as point-of-sale, email and file sharing. The network architecture was also configured for solid business continuity with failover support.

"One of our primary goals for our new network was building in reliability and disaster recovery capabilities," said Jason Graves, Director of Corporate Operations for Blue Beacon. "We were impressed by the fact that EarthLink Business has a physical presence in our headquarters market in Salina, Kansas. EarthLink Business had the ability to directly connect to the existing fiber ring in our headquarters and engineer the 'last mile' connectivity over optical cable versus traditional copper facilities, which we considered a strong technology differentiator."

Blue Beacon will also benefit from entrusting its network management to EarthLink Business, empowering key internal IT staff to focus on its company's strategic issues. While network performance is accessible via the EarthLink account management portal, the EarthLink Business team will monitor and troubleshoot the entire Blue Beacon network across all of its locations.

"Blue Beacon is a terrific example of how an agent partner and EarthLink Business delivered outstanding value for the customer," said JR Cook, EarthLink Business Vice President of Alternate Channels. "Carrier Choice Networks and Evolving Solutions were integral every step of the way, from making introductions to helping us understand Blue Beacon's business priorities. We each brought unique strengths to the table, and worked together to develop a solution to deliver immediate benefits to Blue Beacon, with the capability to grow as its future communications needs evolve."

About Blue Beacon

Blue Beacon owns and operates more than 100 truck wash locations across the United States and Canada. Open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week for customer convenience, the company's truck washes are located at travel plazas along the interstate highway system to provide easy access for the largest truck rigs. With more than 30 years in the industry, Blue Beacon is the most recognized and trusted truck washing service in the nation.

About Evolving Solutions

Evolving Solutions is headquartered in Omaha, NE and is a leading-edge consulting company providing voice and data consulting to thousands of companies throughout the U.S. and internationally. Evolving Solutions has six branch offices, each with over 20 years of experience in the voice and data consulting industry and bringing state-of-the-art communication technology along with high-level services to companies of all sizes. In addition, Evolving Solutions offers over 150 partners throughout the U.S. that specialize in phone systems, from digital to VoIP along with Cisco, cabling and wiring, data hosting, etc.

About EarthLink

EarthLink, Inc (NASDAQ: ELNK) is a leading provider of Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure and services to medium-sized and large businesses, enterprise customers, and over 1.6 million customer relationships across the United States. The company has provided Internet access and communications services for decades and has earned an award-winning reputation for both outstanding customer service and product innovation. Their EarthLink Business™ division provides a full complement of voice, data, mobile, cloud hosting and equipment services over a 28,000 mile fiber network and MPLS-based services nationwide. EarthLink Consumer is a leading Internet Service Provider connecting people to the power and possibilities of the Internet. For more information, visit EarthLink's website www.earthlink.net

SOURCE EarthLink, Inc.