June 17, 2008

HughesNet increases Satellite Broadband Speeds

Hughes Network Systems announced the availability of the fastest consumer broadband satellite Internet access plans ever offered. The new service plans, Elite and ElitePlus, operating over the HughesNet® service, give rural Americans access to speeds on par with terrestrial broadband services utilizing affordable consumer equipment. The Elite plan features download speeds of up to 2Mbps and ElitePlus features download speeds of up to 3Mbps.

“Consumers and small businesses in rural areas have been left behind,” said Peter Gulla , Hughes vice president of marketing. “Access to dial tone may be universal in the US , but access to DSL or cable modem service is not. The lack of broadband adversely affects mostly rural communities.”

Experts say that families and home businesses without broadband access will be left at a competitive disadvantage and run the risk of becoming disenfranchised from their customers and the marketplace. And, according to analysts, there are roughly 12 to 15 million homes in pockets of America, both rural and urban, that do not have access to a broadband connection.

With the Elite service plans, subscribers can:

*Enjoy download speeds on par with terrestrial providers of 2 to 3 Mbps;
*Effectively run a home-based business;
*Engage in e-commerce activities; and
*Access information, whether for business or pleasure, at speeds rivaled by no other satellite broadband provider.
 

Elite and ElitePlus join existing plans Home, Pro, and ProPlus, which offer a range of upload and download speeds and prices. From upload speeds of up to 128 kbps to up to 300 kbps and download speeds from up to 700 kbps to 3.0 Mbps, Hughes offers plans to meet any consumer's or home business's needs. Prices range from $59.99 a month for existing plans and start at $119.99 per month for the new Elite and ElitePlus plans.

Elite and ElitePlus were made possible by the launch of Hughes' SPACEWAY™ 3, the largest satellite in the US and the world's first commercial satellite with on-board switching and routing. SPACEWAY 3 has the greatest total capacity of any commercial satellite, which fuels the faster speeds. SPACEWAY 3 was launched in August of 2007 and began serving customers in April of 2008.



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