GERMANTOWN, Md., April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hughes Network
Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and
services and wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc.
(Nasdaq: HUGH), today announced that it successfully activated the first
HughesNet(R) consumer subscriber for broadband Internet service utilizing its
SPACEWAY(TM) 3 satellite on April 3rd, 2008.
"With this significant milestone, our SPACEWAY 3 satellite has officially
commenced carrying revenue-bearing traffic, making Hughes a fully integrated
service provider," said Pradman Kaul, president and CEO of Hughes. "We are
excited to begin delivering HughesNet broadband services over the world's
first commercial satellite with on-board switching to our rapidly growing base
of consumer, SMB, enterprise, and government customers throughout North
America."
Launched by Arianespace in August, 2007, SPACEWAY 3 was subsequently
placed into geostationary orbit by Boeing in December, 2007, at which time
Hughes assumed operational control. Extensive pre-commercial testing has been
completed since then and Hughes has now achieved its goal of commencing
commercial service in early 2008.
With 10 Gigabits per second of gross capacity, SPACEWAY 3 is the highest
traffic-carrying satellite to be brought into service in North America. It was
designed and developed as a next-generation, Ka-band broadband satellite
system, and is the world's first commercial satellite to employ on-board
traffic switching and routing. Combined with many other advances in satellite
technology, such as dynamic beam forming, and direct small-dish-to- small-dish
connectivity, SPACEWAY 3 ushers in a new world of bandwidth-on-demand
HughesNet services accessed through a range of high-performance ground
terminals.
About Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the global leader in providing
broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments,
small businesses, and consumers. HughesNet encompasses all broadband solutions
and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and
terrestrial technologies. Hughes has shipped more than 1.5 million systems to
customers in over 100 countries. Its broadband satellite products are based on
global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU standards organizations,
including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A and GMR-1.
Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA,
Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: HUGH). For additional
information, please visit http://www.hughes.com.
HUGHES, HughesNet, and SPACEWAY are trademarks of Hughes Network Systems,
LLC.
SOURCE Hughes Network Systems, LLC
