EarthLink has major outage

Figure the odds. Atlanta-based EarthLink goes dark on Earth Day.

On the day that people celebrate the planet’s green power, the Internet provider that touts an orange globe as its logo suffered a major outage Wednesday, as millions of Web users were shut out of access to e-mails and Web hosting accounts.

Industry magazine Computer World’s Web site reported that EarthLink went down around 10:30 a.m., Wednesday.

The company, founded in 1994, provides different types of Internet connections, including dial-up, DSL, satellite and cable.

The company’s corporate Web site was down, and calls to corporate communications officials were all directed to a single voice mail greeting.

Customers calling EarthLink’s customer service line received the following message:

“EarthLink is currently experiencing problems with our Web hosting servers. This is causing EarthLink web host customers to be unable to send or receive e-mails, access their web hosting accounts or download EarthLink software. We apologize for the inconvenience, and are working to resolve the problem quickly.”

Hundreds of users voiced their concerns on Twitter, complaining that they weren’t able to reach anyone at the company with answers.

One tweet suggested that a power outage at the company’s Pasadena, Calif., facility is the cause, but that information is unconfirmed.