Hughes Network Systems has released new high-performance broadband plans for government agencies, offering speeds up to 15Mbps and designed to reach remote locations across the United States, the broadband satellite solutions and services company announced.    
   Hughes Network Systems Assistant Vice President for Government Solutions Tony Bardo said 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.
   Hughes’ Europea division also has international government customers in mind, recently entering into a partnership with Bentley Walker to launch Ka-band communications services into the Middle East over the Avanti Hylas 2 satellite.
   Bentley Walker has purchased three additional Gateway NOCs from Hughes as part of the agreement, which includes two HX System 4.0s to enable resellers to set up local Virtual Network Operators (VNOs). Bentley Walker said the agreement would allow the company to augment its existing Ku-band broadband morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) services to U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
   Bentley Walker CEO Anthony Walker said existing users of the service would be able to benefit from an easy upgrade path to the new Ka-band service, which offers higher throughput speeds at lower cost using a smaller dish.
   “With our strong history of success working with Hughes Europe, together with Avanti’s reputation for technical excellence, we are delighted to be among the first resellers to take full advantage of the new Ka-band services,” Walker said in a statement. “This will enable us to offer higher speed packages, allowing soldiers to benefit from consistent broadband delivery at the speeds they choose.”