Channels Summer 08
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2013-02-27
: Hughes Channels Summer 08 channels_summer_08 0e4980f0-6325-0130-53cd-4040a5068ef5 uploads
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Page Count: 12
A Publication of
Details on Page 12
Hughes and Inmarsat Provide
Critical Communications for
Expedition and Help Raise
Awareness for Water Crisis
It 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
SUMMER 2008
PAGE
1
s
Running the
Sahara
s
Executive Corner
2
s s
On the HUG Board
Hughes Financial
Corner
3
s
GETN:
Government’s
Digital Campus
4
s
Africa: A Hotspot
for Satellite
Broadband
Growth
5
s
World-Class
Shopping
in India
6
s
The Beat Goes
On: A Glimpse
into High-Tech
Manufacturing
at Hughes
8
s
HITS Conference a
HIT with Installers
10
s s
Executive Corner
Cont.
Awards: High
Technology
Firm of the Year
11
s
Running the
Sahara Cont.
12
s
Hughes
QuickTakes
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
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
continued on page 11
Running
the Sahara…
4,000 Miles, Six Countries,
and BGAN
2Channels / 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.
On the HUG Board
Welcome 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 Tom Peake, AGF
Vice President Curt Walker, TJX
Secretary Nate Graham, ConocoPhillips
Operations & Support Scott Roberts, Wyndham Worldwide
Installation & Maintenance Michael Cox, BP
Engineering 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 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.
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.
Hughes Financial Corner
Ticker: HUGH (NASDAQ)
Hughes Communications, Inc. Announces Record Second Quarter 2008 Results
3
GETN: Government’s
Digital Campus
Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com
Today, 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
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.
GETN User Agencies
The roster of GETN user agencies currently includes:
Air National Guard ◆
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 ◆
4Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com
Satellite 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.
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.
1 The 2007 COMSYS VSAT Report.
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.”
AfricA:
A Hotspot for Satellite
Broadband Growth
5
Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com
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.
World-Class
Shopping
in India
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 Benets
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.
How Reliance Retail Benets 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 ◆
7
It’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 value-
added service providers, distributors, and resellers in over 100 countries.
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
one unit every 30 seconds. In any
given week, the facility can churn out
28,000 terminal sets, or more than
one million annually. More complex
equipment such as network operations
rack and chassis equipment, which is
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
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
“It’s purely a question
of what’s needed,
when, and how many,
and we produce it.”
– John McEwan
8Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com
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 admin-
istrative 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.
SPACEWAY 3 Training
One of the hottest topics of this year’s
conference was installation of equipment
for Hughes’ new SPACEWAY 3
TM
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
HITS Conference a
HIT with Installers
HITS Conference a
HIT with Installers
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 custom-
ers, 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.
9
Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com
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 techni-
cian is at their site.
Technical and Administrative Sessions
Other key topics discussed during the confer-
ence 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, schedul-
ing, and the various tools available to help
make the installers more successful.
Open Forum
A management Q & A session gave installers
and distributors an open forum in which to
ask questions. A variety of Hughes manage-
ment 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.
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
meeting customer-required due dates, meet-
ing 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.
Feedback after the event was overwhelmingly
positive. According to William Hall of Special-
ized 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.”
“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.”
Executive Corner
continued from page 1
10 Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com
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.
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
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.
High Technology
Firm of the Year
Recently, 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.
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Running For Water
continued from page 1
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
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.”
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
connectivity and to sponsor this epic event—an
amazing accomplishment for the runners and a
call to action to bring clean water to Africa.”
“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.
Channels / Summer 2008 / www.hughes.com
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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 Certication
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 mission-
critical 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 Ka-
band 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
There’s no telling what a Hughes installer might run
into at an installation site. Whether it’s a multi-
level 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.
