Hughes Network Systems Assistant Vice President for Government Solutions Tony Bardo told Satellite TODAY Insider that higher performance connectivity is in demand more than ever by government agencies and the new broadband solutions aim to serve the federal, state and local sectors, each with unserved territories. “Satellite can be virtually anywhere. We don’t have any unserved areas, so we can serve the areas that are not served by terrestrial,” says Bardo. “And now with this new service, we can offer speeds that haven’t been seen before out of the satellite industry.”

Hughes is already providing these new services to FEMA, supporting disaster recovery centers set up in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. “They are providing direct services to citizens, such as uploading spreadsheets and forms, which would be much harder to do with satellite services of the previous generations,” Bardo explained.

The Hughes Internet Access Solutions utilize high-capacity satellites and on-the-ground equipment with the recently launched next-generation Ka-band EchoStar 17 satellite with Jupiter high-throughput technology—employing a multi-spot beam, bent-pipe architecture designed to deliver high-speed Internet to the industry. The new HughesNet Gen4 Internet service will also use the Spaceway 3, the world’s first satellite with onboard switching and routing.

Hughes’ plans offer a choice of data allowances customized for government needs with download speeds of 10 Mbps or 15Mbps. Hughes enterprise-grade equipment is offered with all level plans, each with Hughes support and service. 

Bardo explained how small- and medium-sized government offices and sites desire more bandwidth, but with the series of difficult budget cuts experienced by the U.S. government market, “can’t even afford the bandwidth they are paying for now. With the new service offering from Hughes, they don’t have to sacrifice less bandwidth.”

In reference to the future of the government market for satellite, Hughes Network Systems is “upbeat,” aiming to give the government sector a reason to reconsider satellite. “The market opportunity for the satellite industry and for us in particular, is to continue to debunk the myth that two terrestrial carriers give you diversity and redundancy. [With these services], you can save money, which is necessary with budget cuts, and get the path diversity and resiliency that you want, along with the speed and bandwidth,” Bardo added.