Czech Provider GiTy Selects Expandable HN System to Connect Public Libraries

GiTy, the Czech Republic’s leading telecommunications service provider, selected Hughes’ latest generation HN broadband satellite system to support a network that provides broadband Internet/intranet access for public libraries in the Czech Republic. The system comprises an HN NOCcx network operations center and over 500 HN7000S broadband satellite terminals. The NOCcx is designed for service providers and enterprises with small initial network requirements, yet is readily expandable as service demand justifies. A highly efficient architecture incorporates numerous advanced features, including guaranteed quality of service levels.

Broadband Critical to Small Business Success

In a recent survey conducted by Hughes, rural small business owners said that broadband access is “extremely important” to their business success. The majority of small business owners and managers surveyed operate in rural areas—those beyond the reach of DSL and cable broadband service. Prior to the availability of satellite broadband, these business people were reliant upon dial-up Internet connections, now considered too slow and unreliable for business use.

The survey of nearly 600 self-identified small business owners and managers indicated that customer communications, research, and order processing were primary needs addressed by broadband services. Nearly 100 percent of those surveyed said that they use the Internet for business purposes regularly. In addition to using satellite broadband services for their primary needs, small business respondents also use the Internet to maintain or manage a company Website (32%); download files (86%); manage inventory (12%); and use instant messaging (24%).

World’s Most Efficient Satellite Standard in Brazil

Hughes Brazil has implemented the region’s first DVB-S2/IPoS satellite hub, giving customers higher system availability and greater throughput as a result of the enhanced system capabilities derived from the DVB-S2/IPoS standard, including ACM (adaptive coding and modulation). The new Hughes HN System optimizes link performance, even in networks with geographically diverse locations and in high rain areas, by adjusting error-correcting codes and modulation dynamically based on signal quality feedback from HN remote terminals. The greatly improved Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) errorcorrecting codes, combined with the adaptability features, make the Hughes solution the most efficient DVB-S2/IPoS platform on the market today. HughesNet customers are currently being activated on this hub, and it is estimated that by year end approximately 1,500 customer sites will be receiving HughesNet service through the new DVB-S2/IPoS with ACM hub.

New Hughes Operations Center in Brazil

Hughes Brazil has completed the migration of its network operations center (NOC) from Cotia to Barueri in the state of São Paulo, enabling expansion of satellite capacity and services throughout Brazil and South America. The NOC is now located at Terremark Brazil, one of the largest IP Traffic Exchange Peering Points in Latin America. The Terremark facility provides a more suitable infrastructure to meet Hughes’ increasing traffic needs, as well as the advantage of being connected to the backbones of all major operators in Brazil and the ability to support future expansion in a highly secure environment.

“We are confident that combining neutrality, reliability, mass connectivity, and the operations of the most important Multilateral IP Exchange Point in the region will provide increased synergy between Hughes and our customers, a strategy that is in line with Terremark’s marketplace business model throughout the world,” said Hugo Zanon, managing director, Terremark Brazil.

Hughes On The Move -- Two Hughes Teams Compete in U.S. Army Ten-Miler

Congratulations to the 15 runners from Hughes who competed in the 23rd Annual Army Ten-Miler on October 7, 2007 in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), the Army Ten-Miler is America’s largest ten-mile road race, drawing civilian and military participants from across the country, as well as competitors from around the world. The event began and ended at the Pentagon and followed a ten-mile course through scenic downtown Washington within view of historic monuments, memorials, and buildings. Kudos to Hughes Running Club Team 1 from the Corporate Division who ranked 11th out of 76 competing teams, and Hughes Running Club Team 2 in the All Comers Division who took the 15th spot out of a roster of 31 teams.

Residential “Shownet” Internet Services in the Arabian Gulf

Kuwait-based Gulfsat Communications Company,a leading satellite service and solutions provider in the Middle East and North Africa, has purchased an HN System network operations center (NOC) to begin providing a new broadband residential Internet access service called “Shownet Two-Way Service” in the Gulf region in the 4th quarter of 2007.

“We are very pleased to be using the Hughesbroadband satellite platform to provide our new, two-way residential Internet service and to have the first DVB-S2 NOC serving the residential market inthe Gulf region,” said Mustafa Murad, chief operatingofficer at Gulfsat. “The Hughes implementation of DVB-S2 allows us to provide a very efficient and cost-effective service to our customers with improved satellite Internet browsing and download performance at a level that traditional landline service cannot match.”