Russian Teams Compete for VSAT Installation Championship

Fourteen teams took part in the second all-Russian, high-speed VSAT Installation Championship at the Bear Lakes Satellite Communication Center near Moscow in June. Among the participants and guests were leading Russian VSAT service providers Global Teleport/Synterra, Settelecom/Altegrosky, KB Iskra, Amtel-Sviaz, Orange System, and IP Net, which together represent more than 67 percent of the Russian VSAT market.

This year’s top speed for a VSAT installation was clocked in at 8 minutes, 50 seconds by Alexey Konov and Ruslan Sidorin of the Blue Rays team from Amtel-Sviaz, Moscow—less than half of the 2008 record of 19 minutes. The grand prize, a Hughes HN7000S router along with a broadband Internet service subscription from Altegrosky, was awarded for the first place in all-round competition to Anatoly Ayurov and Pavel Zagalo of the Uragsha team from Ulan-Ude. Congratulations to all!

Encore Networks and Hughes Team Up to Provide Utilities Solutions

Hughes has added Encore Networks as a Technology Partner in the Hughes Broadband Alliance Program, and certified Encore’s complete line of rugged and commercialgrade BANDIT™ satellite routers for use with the Hughes suite of utility solutions. By using Encore’s serial protocol to IP support capabilities, Hughes can provide secure, high-performance, end-to-end satellite connections for legacy SCADA networks, thus meeting mandated industry requirements.

Hughes Utility Solutions are designed to provide utilities cost-effective, secure broadband services wherever they need it, with nearly 100 percent network uptime achievable through path-diverse backup of their primary network. Whether migrating to standards-based IP from legacy serial applications, or implementing SCADA or VPN applications, Encore’s technology is a natural complement to the Hughes Utility Solutions offering.

Hughes Signs Home Automation Firm as HughesNet Sales Agent

Hughes recently signed a sales agent agreement with Control4, a Salt Lake City, Utah home automation company, authorizing its network of over 1,400 dealers in the U.S. and Canada to sell HughesNet satellite broadband Internet service. Consumers who are interested in automating their homes are often unable to do so because their homes are located in areas without DSL or cable broadband service.

Available across North America, HughesNet satellite broadband Internet service is an ideal solution, requiring only a clear view of the southern sky. As HughesNet sales agents, Control4 dealers are now in an excellent position to create a new revenue stream by reaching a large base of consumers who cannot access broadband through landline services.