In May, 126 participants descended on Moscow for Hughes’ fifth annual Moscow Seminar which was held coincident with the Sviaz/ExpoComm 2006 conference and exhibition. Attended by representatives of 62 companies from Russia and five CIS countries, including 15 key Hughes customers and more than 30 journalists, the event provided a lively forum to discuss market challenges, successes, and opportunities throughout the region.
The hot topic of the day was “HughesNet—Broadband Unbound.” Hughes executives introduced the new HughesNet service brand, followed by presentations on the latest HN and HX broadband satellite products and AIReach terrestrial wireless systems.
The event was marked by a contract signing for the Hughes Back- End Office Software System (HBOSS) between Alexander Danchenko, managing director of The DataGroup in Ukraine and Dr. Arunas Slekys, vice president and general manager of Hughes’ Russia/NIS business— the first sale of this comprehensive software system in the world.
Highlighting the event was a presentation on the world market for VSATs by Simon Bull, senior consultant with Comsys International, followed by executive speakers from major Hughes service provider customers throughout the region: Alexander Danchenko of The Data Group in Ukraine, Ramazan Veliyaev of Delta Telecom in Azerbaijan, Murad Sofizade of JSC IPNet, and Sergei Tereschenko of Sky Altegro in Russia. They each spoke about their respective successes and the significant market opportunities for broadband satellite within Russia and throughout the region.
In addition to the summit, Hughes held its users’ group meeting, which was attended by 10 authorized regional service providers, to discuss a wide range of market development strategies and opportunities in various sectors, from distance learning to retail, to oil and gas. “The event sparked considerable dialog among participants about ways to grow their businesses, including candid discussions about how to best meet the needs of over 50,000 Russian towns and villages that currently have limited or no basic telephony services,” said Slekys. “Our collective challenge is to continue raising the awareness of the powerful advantages and benefits of broadband satellite throughout this vast developing region.”