Combined Business Class Voice and Private MPLS Network Solution

NEW YORK, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- New Edge Networks, the business communications unit of EarthLink Inc., (Nasdaq: ELNK), today announced a new service offering, Voice Connect. Voice Connect is a private VoIP gateway service which can be seamlessly integrated with New Edge's MPLS network offering and consolidated into a single solution.

New Edge has established direct and secure connections into data centers of leading VoIP providers to create a private and controlled network environment for customers' voice traffic. As a result, New Edge delivers better performance compared to VoIP services that traverse the public Internet. For business customers, this equates to superior quality, security and reliability, in addition to significant cost savings from an integrated solution with free site-to-site dialing.

New Edge's nationwide MPLS enables companies to converge voice, video and data on a single, secure network. The MPLS network is highly scalable and capable of prioritizing traffic - offering users up to five classes of service for tagging and prioritizing applications data traffic. New Edge's ability to route voice over a secure MPLS private network provides for an extremely high level of VoIP quality of service (QoS). In addition, voice traffic is always prioritized over data which is essential for businesses that rely on customer-facing calls.

Voice Connect services include Hosted IP PBX, SIP Trunking and enterprise class features, with a variety of service options for locations requiring only a few voice lines to supporting the needs of large corporations. SIP Trunking is used for companies or locations that already have invested in an on-premise PBX or Key phone system. Hosted IP PBX is ideal for offices without a phone system, including home based workers.

"In today's economy, our customers are looking for ways to reduce costs without compromising performance. Voice Connect makes it simple and cost effective to deploy VoIP," stated Greg Griffiths, vice president of marketing for New Edge. "With this solution, VoIP performs more like traditional voice service in terms of quality and reliability."

About New Edge Networks

New Edge Networks builds and manages private IP-based wide area networks that do not use the public Internet. Connecting business sites at virtually any address in the United States, New Edge allows businesses to choose any blend of available access technologies - from DSL and T1 lines to fiber-optic connections - for building private and secure MPLS networks with performance guarantees. A wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based EarthLink Inc., (NASDAQ: ELNK), New Edge is based in Vancouver, Wash. For more information visit www.newedgenetworks.com or call 1-360-693-9009.

SOURCE New Edge Networks