[Satellite TODAY 06-30-10] Hughes Network Systems has been awarded a contract by the South Carolina Division of State Information Technology (DSIT), which allows the company to provide its Spaceway 3 satellite broadband Internet service to South Carolina agencies and local governments, the company announced June 29.
    The seven-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract is the latest addition to Hughes’ growing list of U.S. state agency customers. South Carolina may purchase Lot 4 satellite Internet services from Hughes to support high-speed small office and home office services.
    Tony Bardo, assistant vice president for government solutions at Hughes, has been in charge of procuring state enterprise contracts for the company. “Available nationwide, our affordable high-speed Internet service reaches across all areas, including the estimated 44 percent of South Carolina households that are unserved or underserved by terrestrial broadband providers. Under this contract, South Carolina public sector entities — even employees with home offices or those in remote locations — can now get high-speed Internet access,” Bardo said in a statement.
    Separately, Hughes Network Systems announced it has installed a satellite uplink in which enables distance learning at the Native American Havasupai Elementary School, located in the heart of the Grand Canyon.
    This installation is the 150th site installed under the U.S. National Indian Programs Training Center’s (NIPTC) Enhanced Learning and Knowledge Network (ELKNet), which aims to deliver distance learning to schools, federal agencies, and juvenile detention centers located in remote Native American lands. Hughes provides managed network services for ELKNet and will manage distance education for tribal nations at 205 sites across 25 states.
    NIPTC is a member of the U.S. Government Education and Training Network (GETN), a group of federal agencies that share satellite services, facilities, and programs for distance learning. Hughes was awarded the task order to provide managed network services for GETN under the U.S. General Services Administration’s Satcom-2 contract in April 2008.

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