[Satellite Today 11-24-08] Hughes do Brasil has won a public tender and signed a 36-month contract with Prodam, the data processing company of the state of Amazonas, to deploy a turnkey broadband network solution that combines WiMax and Wi-Fi access technologies with satellite backhaul, Hughes Network Systems announced Nov. 24.
    Prodam will provide high-speed wireless Internet access service to customers throughout all 61 municipalities of Amazonas, including government agencies, small businesses and the public at large. The contract calls for completion of the installation process within 12 months. In the first phase, 15 municipalities will receive the service, which includes the WiMax network connecting various public agencies and a Wi-Fi hotspot for wireless public Internet access. 
    According to Hughes, the State of Amazonas presents a significant challenge for delivery of  high-speed Internet service on a geographic scale. The project calls for the company to install and operate WiMax and Wi-Fi wireless base stations in every municipality, together with more than 900 wireless customer premises terminals, all as an integrated service delivered over its HughesNet broadband satellite network.
    Each base station includes a Hughes HX broadband satellite router, which manages the backhauling of the IP traffic over satellite channels to the HX hub located in Manaus, the state capital. In Manaus, the hub is connected to Prodam’s data center and to the Internet.
    “This technology will enhance our ability to better govern the entire territory, improving the dissemination of information to our citizens and assisting decision making in all areas of the administration, be it health, education, public security, or the environment,” Eduardo Braga, governor of the state of Amazonas, said in a statement.