Hughes Named Frost & Sullivan 2009 North American Company of the Year in Satellite Industry

GERMANTOWN, Md., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, today announced that Frost & Sullivan has selected it as the 2009 North American Company of the Year in the Satellite Industry, in recognition of the company's growth strategies, high-quality customer service, and product/service reliability.  

Frost & Sullivan ranks Hughes growth strategies, demonstrated by its customer expansion, as the highest in the satellite industry. In North America, the company's market-leading HughesNet® broadband satellite Internet service has over 500,000 subscribers; worldwide, Hughes has shipped over 2.1 million terminals to customers in over 100 countries.

"In North America, Hughes has managed to grow revenues significantly year-over-year even during the economic downturn," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst, Gina Villanueva. "The company's commitment to enhancing its products and services also places it ahead of the competition."

Since first introducing commercial satellite networks using Ku-band, very small aperture terminals (VSAT) over 25 years ago, Hughes has continually improved satellite networking price/performance and functionality. Its successful consumer Internet service in the U.S. has passed the 500,000 subscriber milestone, while it continues to maintain greater than 50 percent share of the global VSAT market.

"We are proud to receive this prestigious award from Frost & Sullivan," said Pradman Kaul, chairman and CEO of Hughes. "It validates our successful business model, which is to aggressively grow the service business while fueling it with innovative new technologies, products and solutions. And the demand for broadband Internet service continues to grow, providing us with a healthy market to serve the over 10 million homes and small businesses in North America beyond the reach of terrestrial broadband cable and DSL."

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents the North American Company of the Year award to the company that has demonstrated robust growth strategies and strong implementation when compared to competitors within the industry. The award recognizes the degree of innovation in business processes, products and/or technologies as well as its value to customers and the resulting increase in market penetration.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.awards.frost.com.

About Hughes Network Systems

Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HughesNet® encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and terrestrial technologies. Its broadband satellite products are based on global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU standards organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A and GMR-1. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 2.1 million systems to customers in over 100 countries.

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: HUGH). For additional information, please visit www.hughes.com.

Hughes and HughesNet are registered trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, LLC.

SOURCE Hughes Network Systems, LLC