Channels Summer 08
Channels Summer 2008 Channels_Summer_2008 Channels_Summer_2008 a7c33190-7f79-0130-fe1d-4040a5068ef5 uploads gwx_hughes
2013-02-27
: Hughes Channels Summer 08 channels_summer_08 0e4980f0-6325-0130-53cd-4040a5068ef5 uploads
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A Publication of S UMMER 2008 PAGE HITS Conference a HIT with Installers s Executive Corner Cont. s Awards: High Technology Firm of the Year s Running the Sahara Cont. s 12 The Beat Goes On: A Glimpse into High-Tech Manufacturing at Hughes s 11 World-Class Shopping in India s 10 Africa: A Hotspot for Satellite Broadband Growth s 8 GETN: Government’s Digital Campus s 6 Hughes Financial Corner s 5 On the HUG Board s 4 Executive Corner s 3 Running the Sahara s 2 s 1 Hughes QuickTakes Running the Sahara… 4,000 Miles, Six Countries, and BGAN Executive Corner Lifecycle Service Delivery By Dave Zatloukal, Senior Vice President of Service Delivery for Hughes, North America Service delivery is the cornerstone of supporting the customer. With a customer base ranging from large enterprises to government agencies to smaller companies and consumers, it’s worth taking a look at what that means and how market and technology changes influence the services that Hughes delivers. A Changing Market Hughes and Inmarsat Provide Critical Communications for Expedition and Help Raise Awareness for Water Crisis I t was an unprecedented mission. On November 1, 2006, three men set out to run across the entire Sahara Desert—roughly two marathons a day, ending 111 exhausting days later on February 20, 2007. The expedition of over 4,000 miles took American Charlie Engle, Canadian Ray Zahab, and Taiwanese Kevin Lin through six African countries: Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt—from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Along the way, the runners encountered striking natural beauty, harsh living conditions, and the cheers of village children who ran alongside them. They also encountered the realities of the water crisis in Africa. Water is one of the world’s most vital resources. But according to the international non-profit organization continued on page 11 Details on Page 12 We’ve seen tremendous changes over the years, particularly in the enterprise market. Businesses have gone from needing simple connectivity to requiring 100 percent availability and real-time information. In today’s environment, one kind of transport no longer fits all customers, many of whom want to take advantage of alternative technologies such as terrestrial wireless and multi-transport capabilities that link satellite with DSL, T1, and other landline services. Meanwhile, the complexity of services has gone well beyond the installation of a satellite terminal, with primary considerations that include multi-transport designs and deployment, security, legacy protocol conversion appliances, and firewall management. A direct result of these changes was the launch several years ago of continued on page 10 W On the HUG Board elcome to the newly elected Board of Directors of the Hughes Users’ Group (HUG). Designed to facilitate close collaboration between Hughes and its customers, the HUG brings together enterprise customers and Hughes representatives to discuss common issues, network with industry peers, and spur innovation. The HUG leverages customer knowledge, ideas, and experience to help Hughes better meet customer needs and help customers get the most out of Hughes products and services. Governed by an elected board, the group meets annually and stays connected throughout the year. Congratulations to the new HUG officers elected for the 2008-2009 year. President Vice President Secretary Operations & Support Installation & Maintenance Engineering Tom Peake, AGF Curt Walker, TJX Nate Graham, ConocoPhillips Scott Roberts, Wyndham Worldwide Michael Cox, BP Mike Ovecka, National CineMedia Being active in the HUG is the best way for enterprises to exchange information, prepare for network upgrades, and explore service expansion. For more information about participating in the HUG, please contact Dilbag Johal (dilbag.johal@hughes.com) or your Hughes program manager. Hughes Financial Corner Ticker: HUGH (NASDAQ) Hughes Communications, Inc. Announces Record Second Quarter 2008 Results H ughes successfully completed a public offering of 2 million shares of common stock at $50 per share, proceeds of which will be used for a new satellite or for corporate purposes. Snapshot of Financial Results Compared to Second Quarter 2007 Revenues increased by 13% to $266 million Adjusted EBITDA increased by 22% to $38 million Consumer gross adds increased by 21%, with net adds growing by 32% New order bookings increased by 51% to $333 million Selected Second Quarter Highlights Increased the speeds of its three popular HughesNet® consumer Internet service plans in North America at the same low prices: up to either 1Mbps; 1.2Mbps; or 1.6Mbps. Announced the availability in North America of the fastest consumer broadband satellite Internet access plans ever offered: up to either 2Mbps; 3Mbps; or 5Mbps. 2 Signed a $100.8M contract with Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSAT) to design, manufacture, and implement the next-generation Radio Access Network and deliver satellite air interface chips to be a part of the User Terminal Subsystem. Announced that Sistemas Técnicos de Loterías del Estado has awarded its wholly owned UK subsidiary a contract to provide a geographically redundant HN System, 2800 HN 7700S routers and support/maintenance services for 5 years. Selected as prime contractor by the U.S. Social Security Administration to provide operational support services for its interactive video training network. Hughes Communications India, Ltd. (HCIL) signed an agreement with SAHAJ SREI e-Village Limited to supply 17,000 VSATs to be installed at rural kiosks across multiple states in India. For up-to-date news, financial information, audios, and videos, visit www.hughes.com and select Investor Relations. Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com Published by Hughes Corporate Communications Department Eric Gann, Editor Channels may also be found online at www.hughes.com. Click on the Channels Newsletter icon. Correspondence is invited and should be directed to: Arunas Slekys, Vice President, Corporate Marketing Email: arunas.slekys@hughes.com Telephone: 301-428-5502 Fax: 301-601-4107 Hughes Network Systems, LLC 11717 Exploration Lane Germantown, MD 20876 USA About Hughes Network Systems Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HughesNet® encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and terrestrial technologies. 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 systems to customers in over 100 countries. Headquartered outside Washington, DC, in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH). For additional information, please visit www.hughes.com. Special thanks to our contributors: Tony Bardo, Kathy Bell, Mary Belt, Judy Blake, Amir Dehdashty, Andrea Dudrow, Deepak Dutt, Ann Edgeington, Eric Gann, John McEwan, Soheil Mehrabanzad, Neha Saxena, Cliff Rees, Dave Rehbehn, Rob Shultz, Arunas Slekys, Dave Tuscano, and Dave Zatloukal. © 2008 Hughes Network Systems, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Hughes, HughesNet, and SPACEWAY are trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. GETN: Government’s Digital Campus T oday, distance education is recognized worldwide as a vital ingredient to maintaining a strong, well-trained workforce. In the U.S., one noteworthy program that is using broadband networks and the latest audio and video technologies to provide distance learning is the Government Education and Training Network (GETN). Developed by the Government Alliance for Training and Education (GATES), GETN is a network of Federal agencies that use a common satellite carrier for an interoperable, interactive network that enables agencies to share distance learning programs using common facilities. Under a recent agreement with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Hughes is now providing an audio and video communications network for broadcast training to GETN students in locations across the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. The network solution, which uses Hughes broadband satellite technology to broadcast compressed digital video and audio programs, supports viewer response systems, including audio conferencing and integrated voice and data response. The system also accommodates agency-specific needs with advanced capabilities such as interactive television, streaming video to the desktop, large file transfers, and encrypted video. The Hughes agreement, which was issued through the U.S. General Services Administration’s SATCOM-II vehicle, has a potential value of up to $16 million over a five-year period of performance. Joining Hughes as part of the GETN team is Convergent Media Systems, a GETN User Agencies The roster of GETN user agencies currently includes: ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ◆◆ ir National Guard A Air Force Reserve Bureau of Indian Affairs Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute Defense Logistics Agency Department of Justice Environmental Protection Agency Federal Aviation Administration Internal Revenue Service National Park Service U.S. Air Force U.S. Army ◆◆ U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service unit of Technicolor Network Services that specializes in custom media distribution networks for business television, interactive distance learning, and out-of-home advertising, such as digital signage. Serving Diverse Government Needs With 12 digital Ku-band satellite uplink broadcast centers reaching over 2,300 fixed-dish downlink sites, GETN currently serves 13 agencies including defense as well as civilian organizations. Courses in the program are agency-based and can be as diverse as medical training, aircraft maintenance, hazardous waste management, civil engineering, and contract management, to name a few. The network is also ideal for panel discussions, guest speakers, and agency meetings, such as broadcasting a department-wide address to thousands of employees who attend in conference rooms at several hundred sites nationwide. Building a Top-Notch Workforce “GETN’s mission is to provide its user agencies with a cost-effective and efficient means to distribute training and education nationwide,” said Tony Bardo, assistant vice president of government services at Hughes. “We look forward to supporting the needs of the GETN program— leveraging our heritage as the leading provider of broadband satellite networks and services to deliver cutting-edge distance learning and business IPTV solutions.” Already a major player in distance education in the commercial space, Hughes is now expanding its leadership in the government distance education sector, helping organizations of all kinds to build and maintain their most valuable asset—a top-notch workforce. Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com 3 Africa: A Hotspot for Satellite Broadband Growth S atellite broadband is a hot and rapidly expanding market in Africa. Much of the growth has been concentrated in large population centers in West Africa, though recently countries in East Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are also growing at a healthy clip. In fact, according to the 2007 COMSYS VSAT report, the compound annual growth of the satellite broadband industry in the Africa region was 27 percent during the three-year period from 2004 through 2006, as measured by the number of remote sites.1 In South Africa, where satellite broadband penetration is already strong, demand for digital content is now further fueling the growth of satellite services. This market sector is expected to explode over the next few years with services such as video-on-demand, Internet TV, and bundled voice, data, and video services. Hughes has been supplying its broadband satellite systems in the region for over a decade to a growing family of local telecom providers who deliver broadband services directly to business and residential customers. To date, Hughes has shipped its HN and HX broadband satellite systems, including more than 44,000 terminals, to over 70 service providers in Africa whose expanding customer base includes large, medium, and small enterprises, government agencies, and consumers. The outlook for satellite broadband in Africa is strong. Gaps left by spotty terrestrial infrastructure, as well as the ongoing introduction of new applications, continue to drive growth in the region. An important application that shows promise for substantial growth is e-governance, including programs such as rural Internet access and broadband connectivity to schools, medical facilities, and other public institutions. Also driving the need for satellite solutions is the continued expansion of cellular services in rural areas where satellite is the most cost-effective backhaul solution. But the real “killer app” remains broadband Internet access, which satellite technology is uniquely positioned to deliver virtually anywhere across the continent with both high performance and high quality. Although the region is currently challenged by the lack of space segment availability, which is hampering the expansion plans of some operators, a number of satellite service providers expect to launch new satellites over the next year to meet the increasing demand in the continent. 1 4 The 2007 Comsys VSAT Report. Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com AFSAT VSAT Operator Award Best Company of the Year 2008 In April, AFSAT Communications Ltd., a Hughes customer, was honored with the “VSAT Operator Award for Best Company of the Year 2008” during the SatCom Africa 2008 conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. AFSAT offers three broadband satellite communications services under the iWay™ brand, which are based primarily on the Hughes family of broadband satellite routers and hubs. The criteria for the VSAT Operator of the Year includes a variety of factors such as number of terminals delivering services, rate of growth, bandwidth deployed, variety of sectors serviced, services available, and lobbying the regulatory environment to protect VSAT frequencies. According to Salim Suleman, managing director of AFSAT, “We are honored to receive the VSAT Operator Award for the Best Company of the Year 2008. The performance of the Hughes products has contributed to the success we have achieved.” Another concept that holds potential in Africa is the “open skies” connectivity model that is being used successfully in Europe and North America. Open skies is an arrangement in which a satellite network licensed by a central regulator operates across national borders. Although current regulations in Africa do not permit this licensing model, such an arrangement could eventually enable companies to transmit data from country to country without the need for country-specific licenses. Hughes encourages these market expansion initiatives and is proud to be a part of Africa’s growing satellite technology landscape—opening new possibilities and making communications easier, faster, and more accessible for businesses, governments, and consumers across the continent. World-Class Shopping in India R eliance Retail aims to revolutionize the retailing industry in India. An aggressive initiative by leading business conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Reliance Retail is introducing a pan-India network of retail outlets in multiple formats. The company’s goal is to provide a world-class shopping environment with state-of-the-art technology, a seamless supply chain infrastructure, and a host of unique value-added services—all adding up to an unmatched customer experience. Over the next five years, Reliance Retail will be opening thousands of retail stores in India that will offer a broad range of products and services in a variety of formats to address the complete retail spectrum. The Retail Network Solution With such an ambitious project, Reliance Retail turned to Hughes to provide a satellite network solution to connect all its sites, including the entire retail supply chain—from collection centers, to warehouses, to distribution centers, to retail outlets. To date, Reliance has deployed nearly 1,000 Hughes satellite terminals and is set to expand beyond 10,000 terminals over the next few years, with a high concentration in semi-urban and rural areas. Some larger format stores and large warehouses will use a hybrid solution consisting of E1 leased lines backed by high-speed broadband satellite terminals. Operating from the Hughes shared hub in Gurgaon, the network solution includes Quality of Service (QoS) capability to enhance prioritization and performance for different applications, and supports variable data rates and multicast applications with no downtime. How Reliance Retail Benefits from the Hughes Satellite Solution ◆◆ Most cost-effective media option to reach all sites ◆◆ High-speed rollouts with greater than 99% uptime ◆◆ Multicast applications using the same physical bandwidth ◆◆ High-burst bandwidth that minimizes overall cost per site ◆◆ Low operational cost In addition to using the Hughes solution for networking and retail application connectivity, Reliance is also looking to leverage the platform in the future for innovative applications such as digital signage, digital cinema, and CCTV security monitoring. The Business Benefits Today, Reliance Retail is realizing multiple business benefits from Hughes satellite technology. The rollout has enabled Reliance to focus on its core business of retailing, to open new stores quickly, and to offer value-added services—with no business loss due to network failure. And with its world-class retail operations, Reliance Retail is enriching the shopping experience—for both shoppers and retailers—all across India. Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com 5 The Beat Goes On: A Glimpse into High-Tech Manufacturing at Hughes 6 Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com I t’s just past 6:00 a.m. at the Hughes Shady Grove manufacturing facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland. And it’s already teeming with activity by the first shift—part of a workforce that is represented by more than 15 nationalities from regions across the globe, including China, Vietnam, India, West Africa, the Caribbean, North and South America, and Europe. Shady Grove is part engineering lab and part manufacturing operation— both decidedly high tech. If engineering is the essence of Hughes, then manufacturing is its heartbeat—where products conceived by its brainpower meet the test of real-world production demands. Here is where design engineers and their manufacturing counterparts jointly finalize products for volume manufacturing, covering everything from component supplier selection, prototypes, and pilots, to product qualification, assembly, and testing. The 120,000-square-foot facility serves as the nerve center for millions of pieces of equipment every year, including broadband satellite terminals, network operations center racks and chassis, and mobile satellite gateways and related voice and data terminals. It also houses a repair center, and packages and ships products to enterprise, government, and consumer customers, as well as valueadded service providers, distributors, and resellers in over 100 countries. By the Numbers 30 seconds Time it takes to produce one Hughes terminal 28,000 Number of terminals Hughes can produce in one week 1 million+ Number of terminals Hughes can produce in one year 400+ Suppliers in 26 countries on 5 continents 300+ Customers in 82 countries that took delivery of Hughes equipment in 2007 1.5 million Hughes terminals shipped to date A Day in the Life A typical workday starts when the first shift arrives at 6:00 a.m. and ends when the second shift finishes at 11:00 p.m. But the facility can move readily into 24 x 7 mode when required, running three shifts a day, seven days a week, for peak production. “The key to our success here is our people,” said John McEwan, senior vice president of Manufacturing Operations for Hughes. “Our dedicated, highly skilled, and committed team allows us maximum flexibility while maintaining the highest quality for Hughes products.” At workstations, assembly operators perform a wide array of intricate tasks such as assembling printed circuit boards, mounting boards into covers and castings, and testing, inspecting, and packaging products. The manufacturing team is made up of a diverse group of professionals, including test, process, materials, and industrial engineers. In the background providing critical materials support are planners, buyers, and personnel in charge of stockrooms, shipping, and logistics. A core workforce of 200 is supplemented, as needed, with temporary contractors, providing the flexibility to ramp production up or down depending on business needs. Hughes terminals, for example, are built on a flow line that produces “It’s purely a question one unit every 30 seconds. In any given week, the facility can churn out of what’s needed, 28,000 terminal sets, or more than when, and how many, one million annually. More complex and we produce it.” equipment such as network operations rack and chassis equipment, which is – John McEwan largely hand-built, can take two to three days. “Whatever we need to ship, we have the capability to build,” said McEwan. “It’s purely a question of what’s needed, when, and how many, and we produce it.” Keeping It All Together Keeping operations in sync in such an environment requires precise organization and excellent communication. According to McEwan, it’s essential to look after the little things. “Everything happens sequentially, one station to the next. If someone’s not sitting at his or her station, the process falls apart. That’s why excellent people, processes, procedures, and systems—along with a healthy dose of teamwork—are essentials.” The In-house Advantage Although broadband service may attract flashier headlines, designing and producing hardware remains an integral part of the Hughes business model and its competitive edge. The company considers both in-house manufacturing and outsourcing in Asia and Europe as essential to its continued success. The ability to manufacture its own products has given the company enormous advantages, including streamlined product development, faster turnaround for prototypes, and a shorter time to market. It also enables Hughes to efficiently manage costs by leveraging volume with that of its suppliers. But perhaps most importantly, in-house manufacturing allows Hughes to maintain maximum flexibility to react quickly to changes in the market. Back at Shady Grove, it’s 6:00 a.m. of a new day and the beat goes on—with a talented workforce planning, building, and shipping Hughes equipment to enable better communications and improve the lives of people worldwide. Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com 7 HITS Conference a HIT with Installers SPACEWAY 3 Training L iving up to its nickname, the 2008 Hughes Installer Training Seminar (HITS) was a hit with a lively group of installers, distributors, and employees from across North America. Held in April in Baltimore’s scenic Inner Harbor, the conference drew more than 125 attendees to learn about Hughes products and services, share ideas, and interact with peers. During two and a half days of jam-packed sessions, discussions focused on new products and services, new installer requirements, the business forecast, and technical and administrative training. Primarily representing the enterprise installer market, attendees included technicians, owners, administrative staff, and field support staff, who are involved in the installation of Hughes broadband equipment and HughesNet services. 8 One of the hottest topics of this year’s conference was installation of equipment for Hughes’ new SPACEWAY 3TM satellite. Operating in the Ka-band, SPACEWAY 3 is the world’s first satellite with onboard switching and routing. HughesNet service over SPACEWAY 3 operates with the new family of Hughes’ HN9000 modems and HN9500 routers, requiring a different installation process, including fine pointing and commissioning of terminals. An important part of this session was the discussion of specially designed tools Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com and systems that ease the changes to the installation process and ensure that installers know when they leave a site that a terminal is pointed correctly. The SMB Market The addition of the small and medium business (SMB) market to Hughes’ targets was also an important topic that represents a significant new opportunity as well as some changes for installers. Unlike the traditional enterprise market where installers handle a large volume of installations that are fairly consistent from site to site, the SMB market involves from one to 50 sites—for different kinds of customers, in various building types, using different technologies. In a market where one size does not fit all, flexibility is critical. Discussions focused on the requirements for this type of installation, including an onsite survey prior to installation and a clear understanding of steps to be taken at the site to get the customer up and running. Awards and Feedback An awards banquet was held to single out the best of the best in keeping with the Hughes promise of quality and timely delivery of its products and services. Awards were presented in many categories including Feedback after the event was overwhelmingly positive. According to William Hall of Specialized Communications Companies, Inc., “The staff at SCC talks about the success of HITS 2008 daily. It was an awesome experience.” Ann Savin of Access Point Communications in Bealeton, Virginia added, “I came back to Virginia ready to roll with the new product. It was good to see that the dealers are all so committed to providing good service to our customers.” The Customer Experience “Installation is a vital part of the customer experience of purchasing a broadband system,” said Cliff Rees, senior director of Field Services for Hughes. “Hughes installers make hundreds of thousands of site visits a year, and in many cases, the only interaction a customer has with a Hughes representative is the installer.” New Security Requirements Also announced was the implementation of Hughes’ new badging system, in which each installer is required to wear a badge with a photo and an installer ID number to assure customers that a qualified and certified technician is at their site. Technical and Administrative Sessions Other key topics discussed during the conference included terrestrial installations such as cable and DSL, inventory management, work order management, troubleshooting tools, and photo requirements. There were also sessions on customer service, which plays a vital role in the installation of Hughes equipment, scheduling, and the various tools available to help make the installers more successful. meeting customer-required due dates, meeting confirmed schedule dates, and inventory control. This year, Eagle Broadband, Inc. from Texas claimed the coveted title “Distributor of the Year,” which represents the highest weighted average in all categories. “It’s essential that the installer makes a strong first impression and demonstrates the most professional quality of service,” added Andrea Dudrow, senior director of Installation Services for Hughes. “And the HITS Conference is a great opportunity to keep the relationships strong between Hughes and our installers and ensure that our customers receive the highest-quality service possible.” Open Forum A management Q & A session gave installers and distributors an open forum in which to ask questions. A variety of Hughes management groups were represented on the panel: operations, product line management, program management, and customer service. A key topic on everyone’s mind this year was the economy, including the rising cost of fuel and materials. This discussion centered on the tools, processes, and systems Hughes can provide to help make installers more efficient in the field. Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com 9 Executive Corner conti nued f rom page 1 HughesNet Managed Services, a portfolio of services that combines the best of landline and satellite broadband technologies to deliver turnkey solutions to businesses in all industries. Key Aspects of Service Delivery So, just what is service delivery? At Hughes, we think of it as a lifecycle process that encompasses the entire customer relationship—from the time they’re a potential customer, to when they sign a contract, all the way through engineering, design, installation, and operations, to the time they upgrade to each new generation of products and services. Wide-ranging in its responsibilities, service delivery also incorporates customer care, planning, field support, and billing. Also important to Hughes service delivery are support groups such as Application Services, which works with major companies like Microsoft and Cisco to ensure that Hughes satellite technology works well with their products, and Professional Services, which works with customers to ensure their applications perform in all technology environments, whether satellite or terrestrial. Day-to-day network operations for North America take place in our facilities in Germantown, Maryland; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Detroit, Michigan. We maintain a national network management center in Germantown, which acts as the brains behind the services and technologies that we provide to our customers. The Detroit facility also supports a center of excellence for our digital media and video services. From these facilities collectively we serve over 500,000 terminals for HughesNet consumer and enterprise customers throughout North America. AW ARDS High Technology Firm of the Year R ecently, Hughes was named “High Technology Firm of the Year 2008” by the Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), the largest technology trade group serving the advanced technology and biotechnology communities of Maryland. The High Technology Firm of the Year award acknowledges the company that has innovative technologies and products that are making a difference in the way companies do business. Among many criteria, TCM makes a selection based on products and services relevant to the market, strong long-term prospects for business, market penetration and impact, and a positive influence in the marketplace. Award winners are selected by a panel of TCM industry members and service providers from throughout the state. In 2006, TCM named Hughes CEO Pradman Kaul “Executive of the Year” for his outstanding leadership of Hughes. Choosing a Direction Given the breadth of customers that we serve and the diverse suite of products and services that we provide, how do we determine the direction for Hughes service delivery? The simple answer is to listen to our customers. Our Executive Advisory Council (EAC) is made up of customer CIOs and top-level managers who help us set strategic direction. And advising us on how to implement that direction is the Hughes Users Group (HUG), which comprises middle management and technical professionals. Our suppliers, consumer call centers, and enterprise service center also provide important feedback that is used by our operations and engineering organizations to continually improve our products and services. We measure our success through independent quality surveys and an annual customer survey that measures aspects of our service according 10 Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com to how important they are to customers and how we’re executing against expectations. We strive for continual improvement, and survey results from each of the past three years show consistently higher rates of satisfaction. I’m also pleased to report that the Wyndham Hotel Group recently presented Hughes with its Outstanding Service Award. The Outlook Ahead As I look towards the future, I don’t think Hughes has ever been better positioned to grow our customer base so substantially. The launch of SPACEWAY 3—and HughesNet broadband services operating over it— represent the most significant initiative in our company’s history. The world’s first satellite with onboard switching and routing, SPACEWAY 3 gives us capabilities that exist nowhere else in the marketplace and will bring even more efficiencies to our delivery of service. But the most important part of our success formula has and will continue to be our top-notch service delivery team, which combines seasoned industry veterans with energetic, young professionals who together create a world-class organization. In the end, it’s all about delivering the best set of network and relationship services so that our customers can access the applications they need, whether that means providing digital signage at a gas pump, relying on a high-availability network, applying for a driver’s license, or buying a pizza. Running For Water continued from page 1 WaterAid, roughly 20 percent of the world’s population, or an estimated 1.1 billion people, lack access to clean water. Engle, Zahib, and Lin determined to use their expedition to raise both awareness and money to aid in the suffering that they witnessed first-hand. A film crew accompanied the runners to document the expedition for a feature film entitled Running the Sahara, narrated by Academy Award® winner Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award winner James Moll. And with limited or no availability of terrestrial telecom facilities, the entire expedition relied on Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite service and the Hughes 9201 BGAN terminal to handle the endless communication of logistical details, diplomatic arrangements between countries, medical data, and other critical information. “Communications in the desert was so critical to both the expedition and the film production team that the Hughes 9201 BGAN terminal was the first thing we set up when reaching camp and the last thing we took down before moving on,” said Larry Tanz, producer of Running the Sahara and former CEO of LivePlanet. “And it was an unexpected luxury during this physically and emotionally demanding shoot for the runners and the crew to be able to access email, send photos, and feel connected with the people back home.” connectivity and to sponsor this epic event—an amazing accomplishment for the runners and a call to action to bring clean water to Africa.” global BGAN network, which covers more than 85 percent of the earth’s surface, including some of its most remote areas. Designed to withstand extreme weather conditions for extended periods of time, the Hughes 9201 provided a communications lifeline throughout the hot, grueling desert mission. Its small size and weight made the Hughes 9201 easy to move from site to site and be connected again as a Wi-Fi hotspot within minutes. One evening, members used it to access Google™ Earth to find several lost vehicles and direct them safely to camp. “The LivePlanet production team faced a huge logistical challenge in supporting the entire expedition as it traveled through the Sahara desert,” said Frank August, Inmarsat’s director of business development for North America. “We at Inmarsat were very happy to help by providing BGAN service for critical Internet “You get a sense of the vastness of this project when you consider that during the first half of the expedition, the crew pointed the Hughes 9201 terminal to a satellite in the eastern sky, then during the second half, pointed to a different satellite in the western sky,” said Graham Avis, vice president of the Hughes Mobile Satellite Terminal Group. “We are proud that during this epic journey, the Hughes BGAN satellite terminal provided critical communications where other communications simply weren’t available.” Besides important social initiatives like Running the Sahara, the Hughes 9201 and the Inmarsat BGAN service are also being used to meet today’s soaring demand for portable communications for a whole host of applications, including media broadcast, support of disaster relief, and telemedicine. And thanks to the efforts of Engle, Zahab, and Lin, and the many people and organizations supporting their exciting project, we may be closer to the day when sustainable programs bring clean water to people everywhere. The size of a laptop computer and fitting easily into a small backpack, the Hughes 9201 delivers high-speed data and voice communications over Inmarsat’s Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com 11 n Wi-Fi on the Go With the growing integration of mobile and wireless technologies into every aspect of life, people need to access information and stay connected with business, family, and friends no matter where they are. That’s why Hughes is teaming up with Wayport, Inc. to provide Wi-Fi services to HughesNet® subscribers at more than 10,000 locations in the U.S., including selected premium hotels, Hertz® airport locations, and 9,500 participating McDonald’s® restaurants. Now HughesNet subscribers will be able to access Wi-Fi for an additional $14.99 a month, using their laptops, mobile handsets, PDAs, gaming devices, media players, cameras, and other browserless devices. This expansion of Wi-Fi in devices and services gives Hughes dealers and sales agents the opportunity to bring even more value to their customers. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, HughesNet subscribers on the road can now enjoy high-speed Internet access at thousands of Wi-Fi locations across the U.S. n Hughes Technology Earns FIPS Certification Hughes’ Crypto Kernel, the cryptographic component of its HN and HX Systems, earned a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 Level 1 certificate—a requirement for any cryptographic product that will be used in a U.S. government agency network. FIPS is a set of standards that describes document processing, provides standard algorithms for searching, and provides other information processing standards for security modules used to protect government networks. Government agencies can count on Hughes to provide resilient, ubiquitous networks for missioncritical activities such as Continuity of Operations planning, emergency response, and managed network services—plus the assurance that Hughes’ encryption standards meet the challenges of rigorous government testing and requirements. n HughesNet Surpasses Another Milestone HughesNet residential and small business subscriptions have surpassed yet another milestone, passing the 400,000 mark in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2008. With its newly operational SPACEWAY 3™ satellite, North America’s highest traffic-carrying Kaband satellite, Hughes is ideally positioned to meet the continuing demand for broadband services by customers not served by landline providers. HughesNet is the country’s leading broadband satellite Internet service, available everywhere in the contiguous United States with a clear view of the southern sky. HughesNet can be purchased online at www.hughesnet.com or through the Hughes network of local, independent dealers and online resellers. Unsung Heroes The Hughes Installer T here’s no telling what a Hughes installer might run into at an installation site. Whether it’s a multilevel mall, a skyscraper, a house, or a lonely guard shack at a national park, it’s all in a day’s work for the installer. Far beyond just deploying broadband satellite terminals, today’s installers manage a complex mix of troubleshooting, deployment, scheduling, customer service, and inventory management. They’re armed with a solid understanding of both satellite and terrestrial transports like DSL and cable, so they’re ready for any type of technology. Plus, they need to be experts in an array of technical matters such as firewalls, protocol converters, switches, and routers so they can make sure that a remote site is up and running before they leave. Kudos to all Hughes installers—a vital part of the team and a workforce that truly cares about Hughes customers and doing the job right. There’s no place too remote for Hughes installer Atlanta Network Systems to reach. Presorted First Class Mail U.S. Postage 11717 Exploration Lane Germantown, MD 20876 USA PAID Germantown, MD Permit No. 4413
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