Hughes Network Systems LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications Inc., headquartered in Germantown, Md. Hughes operates network operation centers (NOCs) at its headquarters as well as in Las Vegas and Detroit. Hughes is the pioneer of very small aperture terminal (VSAT) and IP-based satellite networks and maintains global VSAT market leadership with more than 50 percent share of the market. Its broadband satellite products are based on global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU standards organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A and GMR-1. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 1.5 million VSAT terminals to customers in more than 100 countries.

Hughes offers a full range of HughesNet® managed services, combining satellite with terrestrial broadband technologies, to the enterprise, small- to medium-sized business (SMB) and government markets. HughesNet high-availability VPNs, optimized VPNs, digital media and business continuity services currently meet the needs of enterprises in the oil and gas, retail, hospitality, and financial services market as well as federal and state governments.

Hughes’ SMB solutions are designed to serve the small- to medium-size businesses’ broadband needs with cost-effective service plans from business Internet to small-scale VPNs to private networks for companies seeking tighter control of their service and more security.

With more than 400,000 consumer subscribers, Hughes’ consumer satellite broadband service reaches all 50 U.S. states, plus Puerto Rico and parts of Canada. Hughes is aiming its efforts for additional subscribers at markets where terrestrial broadband services (i.e., DSL and cable modem) are not available. HughesNet is one of the most successful consumer satellite broadband service.

To further its market and technology leadership position and launch the company into the next generation of satellite broadband services, Hughes launched Spaceway™ 3, the world’s first commercial satellite with on-board switching and routing. Optimized for data networking, Spaceway 3 has 5 to 8 times the capacity of current-generation satellites, which fuels faster speeds and enables efficient processing of high-volume traffic. Spaceway 3 began serving HughesNet customers in the United States in April 2008.

The International Division provides HughesNet broad-band services through its operating units in Brazil, Europe and India, and satellite equipment to service providers around the globe. The Telecom Systems Division provides mobile satellite equipment to the leading mobile satellite service providers such as Inmarsat, Terrestar, ICO and MSV.

Hughes has an ongoing commitment to invest in the broadband industry and help create its future by contributing intellectual property and promoting the development of global standards. IP over Satellite (IPoS) is the world’s first standard to be approved by the TAI, ETSI and ITU. The latest version, IPoS v2, includes DVB-S2 with Adaptive Coding Modulation (ACM). Hughes has also been instrumental in promoting the Regenerative Satellite Multimedia (RSM-A) standard, which advances the state-of-the-art in satellite communications towards the use of regenerative or processing satellite technology. Spaceway 3 complies with this standard. Hughes has also contributed to developing the Geostationary Mobile Radio (GMR-1) standard, which extends satellite communications to mobile handheld terminals.