<p>Internet service provider EarthLink Inc. must refocus after allowing its core mission to become diluted by projects that "morphed into larger commitments," its new chief executive told investors a day after announcing the company was slashing nearly half its work force.</p><p>Chief executive Rolla P. Huff said Wednesday the Atlanta-based company will refocus on its flagging dial-up access business and rework its Wi-Fi business model after cutting 900 jobs and closing four offices. He also expressed confidence in the company's thus-far disappointing Helio cell phone venture.</p><p>Huff, who was named chief executive in June, leads a company that has struggled to generate revenue as dial-up access customers turn to high-speed alternatives from cable and phone companies.</p><p>Like many other Internet service providers with roots in dial-up access, EarthLink has sought to diversify its revenue base. The company resells some high-speed services, but phone companies have been able to offer cut-rate prices, particularly as part of bundles with traditional long-distance and local calling plans.</p><p>"The dial-up business is a mature business," Huff said. "It's not going to, in our judgment ... just die." The company, he said, will look to market phone service to customers to help reduce turnover rate.</p><p>The company had counted on the right to sell customers access to citywide wireless networks in exchange for helping cities build the networks. But amid questions about customer demand and the technology's performance, EarthLink announced in April that it was reviewing new deployments while evaluating the performance of the current rollouts in four cities.</p><p>"No one player will be willing to front all the capital required to make these networks available, and I believe there will be a greater interest in sharing the costs," Huff said. A model where EarthLink bears the brunt of the risk is "simply unworkable," he said.</p><p>EarthLink must also face questions over disappointing results from its Helio project, a wireless joint venture with SK Telecom of South Korea. The company has already committed to invest $220 million in Helio and has said it could spend another $50 million on the project, which was blamed for quarterly losses.</p><p>In July, the company cut its fiscal year 2007 revenue estimate after reporting hefty losses related to the Helio project, but Huff said he hopes the venture will eventually pay off.</p><p>"I continue to believe there's real value in the Helio business we've invested in," he said.</p><p>As part of the cuts, the company said it will close offices in Orlando, Fla., Knoxville, Tenn., Harrisburg, Pa., and San Francisco and "substantially reduce its presence" in Atlanta and Pasadena, Calif. It will also cut 900 of its roughly 1,900 employees, he said.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2ded4b0)</p>
