Hughes in Partnership with Facebook Launches Wi-Fi Hotspots in Brazil and Mexico

New Satellite-enabled Community Wi-Fi Hotspots Provide Afffordable Internet Access and Entrepreneurial Opportunity in Latin America

Germantown, MD, May 2, 2019 – Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, today announced a partnership with Facebook to launch Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Brazil and Mexico, supported by the Facebook Express Wi-Fi platform. Wi-Fi hotspots empower local merchants of villages and towns to offer affordable Internet access to their customers on a prepaid basis, employing a solution that combines a Hughes satellite VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) and Wi-Fi equipment with Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi platform. 

“Express Wi-Fi supports the Facebook Connectivity mission to bring more people online to a faster Internet,” said Paul Monte, technical program manager, Express Wi-Fi, Facebook. “We’re excited to partner with Hughes given the great potential to connect rural communities across Latin America by leveraging both Hughes satellite technology to reach underserved areas and the Express Wi-Fi platform to offer an end-to-end software solution for the network operators, local retailers, and Internet users.” 

“Our combined turnkey solution enables local merchants to manage their own hotspots and sell affordable Internet service to people everywhere,” said Vinay Patel, senior director, International Division at Hughes. “This exciting partnership with Facebook opens up a large market opportunity to expand high-speed satellite Internet service while supporting local communities throughout Brazil and Mexico.”

Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi is a platform that helps service providers and mobile network operators build, operate, grow, and monetize their Wi-Fi business in a sustainable and scalable way. Facebook partners with service providers and operators who expand the provision of fast, affordable, and reliable access to the Internet over Wi-Fi using Express Wi-Fi. Hughes customers have deployed over 32,000 of its satellite-enabled Community Wi-Fi hotspots in Russia, Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia, bringing the benefits of Internet access to more than 25 million people around the world. Any user can access the Internet with a Wi-Fi capable handheld or laptop, either on a prepaid or government-subsidized (USO) basis, depending on the service model – and the solution can be readily deployed virtually anywhere within the satellite footprint, including areas unserved or underserved by wireline or wireless infrastructure. 

For more information, please visit https://www.hughes.com/what-we-offer/digital-divide-solutions/community-wifi

Hughes at SATELLITE 2019: Connecting People, Enterprises and Things
Hughes will exhibit at SATELLITE 2019 May 6-9 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., showcasing how consumers, businesses, governments and communities around the world benefit from the connected experiences enabled by Hughes technologies and services, today…and tomorrow. See Hughes executives at SATELLITE 2019 for unique perspective on connecting people, enterprises and things – including GEO HTS and LEO systems; community Wi-Fi and cellular backhaul solutions; M2M, AI and IoT networks; aero and maritime connectivity; MilSatCom and more.