AltegroSky Expands Broadband Satellite Service in Russia With Hughes Technology

GERMANTOWN, Md., March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite solutions and services, today announced that in 2011 it shipped over 5,000 broadband satellite terminals and two network operations centers (HN and HX NOCs) to AltegroSky, bringing cumulative shipments to over 10,000 terminals. This makes AltegroSky the largest privately-held satellite broadband provider in Russia and the CIS countries. All of AltegroSky's sites are powered by Hughes technology.

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Operating out of its Bear Lakes teleport near Moscow, AltegroSky provides a wide range of high-speed satellite services to enterprises and government agencies—including retail gas stations, railroads, and exploration sites, as well as for Internet points-of-presence across Russia's heartland. Last year, AltegroSky was the first operator in Russia to initiate an affordable, high-speed Internet consumer offering made possible by delivering services over compact 74 cm antennas.

"Using reliable Hughes technology and learning from the success of their consumer business in the U.S., we developed an entire 'Made-in-Russia' eco-system to bring affordable high-speed Internet to people in their dachas and country homes," commented Sergey Pekhterev, CEO of AltegroSky. "Everyone needs to stay connected and so we made it easy for customers to turn on and turn off service as they need when they're vacationing—for a week or season at a time—and they can pay at convenient ATMs where they pay their utility bills. This business has taken off and is exceeding our expectations."

Dr. Arunas Slekys, vice president and GM, Russia/CIS at Hughes commented, "We congratulate AltegroSky in becoming the #1 privately-held satellite broadband provider in Russia and the CIS countries, a burgeoning market where Hughes continues its technology leadership, now with over 45,000 terminals shipped cumulatively to over 20 service providers. Building on their success in the enterprise and government sectors, AltegroSky's exciting new consumer initiative is just the next step in continued growth that confirms the versatility and cost-effectiveness of Hughes technology."

A unique project undertaken by AltegroSky last year was 'YakuEthnoExp', an annual winter expedition of Russia's "In Search of the Edge" program which focuses on ethnographic research, a branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific study of individual cultures. The expedition traveled 5,000 kilometers passing through 10 remote settlements well inside the Arctic Circle. With limited or no availability of terrestrial telecom, the expedition relied on a transportable satellite communications solution from AltegroSky, utilizing a Hughes HN7740 broadband terminal installed inside an SUV and a C-COM iNetVu® auto-deploying antenna on the roof. Throughout the expedition, the solution reliably delivered Internet speeds up to 4 Mbps, enabling participants to stay connected and access email, leave comments on blogs, Twitter and LiveJournal and most importantly, upload and view photos.

About AltegroSky Group
AltegroSky™ is the umbrella brand uniting satellite VSAT operations to provide telecom services to the entire territory of Russia and CIS countries. AltegroSky Group serves clients in many different market segments from large Russian corporations to midsize and small businesses, as well as individual users. As of January of 2012, AltegroSky had more than 7,000 terminals in operation. AltegroSky provides high-speed Internet access, corporate telephony, corporate networks for data transmission, telemetry, video conferencing, multicasting, and Business TV, mobile communications, landline backup, dedicated satellite (backbone) channels, and satellite teleport resources for lease.

About Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes) is the world's leading provider of satellite broadband for home and office, delivering innovative network technologies, managed services, and solutions for enterprises and governments globally. HughesNet® is the #1 high-speed satellite Internet service in the marketplace, with offerings to suit every budget. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 2.8 million systems to customers in over 100 countries, representing over 50 percent market share. Its products employ global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A, and GMR-1.

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes operates sales and support offices worldwide, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), a premier global provider of satellite operations and digital TV solutions. For additional information about Hughes, please visit www.hughes.com.

©2012 Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Hughes and HughesNet are registered trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Hughes Network Systems, LLC