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Hughes Network Systems Gets African Contracts

By Staff Writer | December 10, 2003

      Hughes Network Systems, the Germantown, Md.-based broadband satellite subsidiary of Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH], has signed two contracts to provide its DirecWay network and service to two entities in Africa. Under the first contract, Telkom Kenya is purchasing a DirecWay broadband satellite network, including a hub earth station and associated remote satellite terminals. The new Ku-band hub is located in Nairobi and is capable of providing broadband services across all of Kenya.

      Under the second contract, West African regional banking institution Ecobank Transnational is expanding its current satellite network to include DirecWay broadband satellite solutions. Since 1988, Ecobank has worked across West Africa with governments, municipalities, multinationals, international organizations and the private sector to develop a regional banking structure for communities in Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo.