Hughes Announces Partnership in OneWeb’s Innovative Global Satellite Broadband Initiative to Close the Digital Divide
Hughes will design/develop/manufacture the ground system and employ OneWeb’s network to deliver services across its worldwide base of customers and distribution partners
Germantown, Md., June 25, 2015—Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite solutions and services, today announced a major technology and marketing partnership with OneWeb to close the digital divide by bringing affordable broadband service to millions of households, schools and organizations worldwide.
Hughes joins seven other global corporations in OneWeb’s ground-breaking communications initiative, including Qualcomm Incorporated, Virgin Group, Airbus Group, Bharti Enterprises, The Coca-Cola Company, Grupo Salinas, and Intelsat. OneWeb’s system will deploy hundreds of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites to enable delivery of high quality, low-latency broadband services, both fixed and mobile, as a combined offering with cellular networks.
“OneWeb is a game-changing, next-generation satellite system,” said Pradman Kaul, president of Hughes. “We have been looking at every detail and are excited to participate in the ground system design, development and production. In addition, we will employ the OneWeb network to deliver services to our global base of customers and distribution partners.”
Along with financial investment by its parent company, EchoStar, Hughes will play a particularly important role by developing the ground system, including gateways and terminals. OneWeb’s network of LEOs will be complementary to the Hughes high-throughput JUPITER™ System which operates over geostationary satellites and powers its market-leading HughesNet® high-speed satellite Internet service—now with over 1 million subscribers in North America. Through its service businesses in the U.S., Europe, Brazil and India, and its worldwide base of customers and distribution partners, Hughes will help accelerate the adoption of satellite broadband for people and businesses unserved and underserved by terrestrial services on every continent.
“The dream of fully bridging the digital divide is on track to be a reality in 2019,” said Greg Wyler, founder of OneWeb. “Together with our committed and visionary founding shareholders we have the key elements in place; regulatory, technology, launches, satellites, as well as commercial operators in over 50 countries and territories. We are committed to solving one of the world’s biggest problems—enabling affordable broadband Internet access for everyone. We are excited about the next phase, which will involve working with countries, telecom operators and aid organizations to help them realize their goals of open and ubiquitous access.”