[Satellite Today 08-06-08] Hughes Network Systems LLC launched its fastest consumer broadband satellite Internet access plan, offering speeds of up to 5 megabits per second (Mbps), the company announced Aug. 6.
    The ElitePremium plan, operating over the HughesNet service, will be available Aug. 21 and will be joined by the Elite and ElitePlus plans that offer speeds of 2 Mbps and 3 Mbps, respectively. In July, Hughes unveiled three plans that offered speeds ranging from 1 Mbps to 1.6 Mbps.
    The Spaceway 3 satellite, which began operations in April, enabled Hughes to enhance the speeds of its consumer service plans.
    Separately, Hughes named Joseph Visinski senior director for the company’s Defense and Intelligence Systems division. Visinksi most recently served as director of business development for Milsatcom Systems at L-3 Communications. He also has held positions at Raytheon Co. and Boeing Co. and prior to that served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps as commander of the 10th Special Forces Group Signal Company.