Hughes Looking At Rural Internet

HUGHES LOOKING AT RURAL INTERNET
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen McCarthy]
Hughes Network Systems, a Maryland satellite service company trying to reposition itself after the sale of its DirecTV satellite television business, plans to announce a campaign today aimed at selling Internet access to small businesses and consumers in rural parts of the country. The Hughes Communications subsidiary, which has 1,500 employees, already has about 275,000 customers in what it considers "underserved" parts of the country. But after a recent restructuring, Hughes officials say they see the company's future more tightly tied to providing Internet access, Web sites and other services to the estimated 10 million to 15 million households without access to a high-speed broadband connection.Hughes's main business today is managing satellite networks for companies with disparate locations around the country, such as hotels, retailers, restaurants and gas stations. That business took off in the mid-1980s when Wal-Mart Stores hired Hughes to connect its stores. But in recent years that business has been "relatively flat." To add new customers, the company is concentrating on sales to businesses and individuals in regions where traditional broadband is unavailable. Today the firm will roll out its new brand, HughesNet, along with a new line of managed services for small businesses. According to Northern Sky Research, there are as many as 15 million households without access to broadband service.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/26/AR200603...
(requires registration)