Hughes Wins Euroconsult Award for Broadband Satellite System of the Year

GERMANTOWN, Md., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Communications, Inc. (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, today announced that Euroconsult has awarded Hughes the Broadband Satellite System Award for 2011 for its outstanding performance throughout 2010 and strong prospects for the future. Bahram Pourmand, executive vice president, International Division, Hughes, accepted the award on behalf of Hughes CEO, Pradman Kaul earlier today at a luncheon ceremony during the 15th World Summit for Satellite Financing, held at the Hotel Westin in Paris, France.

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"Speaking for all the employees at Hughes, we are honored to receive this prestigious award from Euroconsult, one of our industry's most knowledgeable analyst companies," said Mr. Kaul upon learning of the award. "Our strong consumer subscriber growth on SPACEWAY® 3, the number of broadband systems and terminals shipped globally, and continued overall market leadership all added up to an excellent year. These are exciting times for Hughes and our industry, as we look forward to broadband demand growing at healthy rates across all sectors, and in particular for us, the launch of our high throughput Ka-band Jupiter™ satellite in the first half of 2012."

The award is one in a series for Excellence in Satellite Management, and which are based on an objective assessment of specific performance indicators by a jury of experts from Satellite Finance, Space News, as well as Euroconsult's analyst team.  As part of the awards process, companies were assessed and benchmarked on performance and then were evaluated through a second round of qualitative criteria.

On Thursday, September 15th at 9 a.m., Mr. Pourmand will substitute for Mr. Kaul on the CEO panel, entitled "Broadband Satellite Operators: New Systems for New Markets."

About Euroconsult

Euroconsult is the leading international and fully independent consulting and analyst firm specializing in satellite applications, communications, and digital broadcasting. Euroconsult experts provide strategic consulting and comprehensive research reports, market analyses, and forecasts to support business planning and strategic decision making. Clients include more than 560 public and private sector entities in 50 countries. Euroconsult also organizes high-level summits, bringing together business leaders and the industry's foremost experts to benchmark, network, do business, and discuss the industry's challenges and opportunities.

About Hughes Communications, Inc.

Hughes Communications, Inc. is the 100 percent owner of Hughes Network Systems, LLC, 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 2.5 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.

©2011 Hughes Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Hughes, HughesNet, SPACEWAY, and Jupiter are trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, LLC.

SOURCE Hughes Communications, Inc.