Skyband, Leading Saudi Arabia Service Provider, Expands With Hughes HX Broadband Satellite Technology

GERMANTOWN, Md., March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, announced today that its long-time customer, Skyband of Saudi Arabia, is expanding its broadband satellite services business with an order for over 2,000 additional HX satellite terminals.

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Osman Oueida, general manager of Skyband, said, "Skyband continues to grow our enterprise and government business and we are pleased with the quality of Hughes products and support, which have been key to our expansion plans. We evaluated other vendor offerings and chose Hughes because of technology, quality, price, and the consistent level of support they have provided our company."

In 2009, Skyband purchased a multi-satellite HX Gateway which is designed to unlock the maximum value from high-quality, IP broadband networking, including specialized applications such as mobility. It makes it easy for operators to expand broadband services across virtually all multi-satellite coverage situations, while maintaining the powerful network management, extensive diagnostics and scalability of the proven HX System.

"We are proud to continue to provide Skyband with quality products and services," said Soheil Mehrabanzad, assistant vice president for Middle East/Africa region at Hughes. "Skyband has been a valued customer of Hughes for several years and we congratulate them on their successful expansion plans."

Efficiency and flexibility in utilizing satellite bandwidth is at the core of the HX System design. Based on the industry-leading Internet Protocol over Satellite (IPoS) standard, approved by ETSI, ITU, and TIA, the HX System can be readily configured to provide a specified Quality of Service (QoS) for each link to a particular terminal, enabling operators to provide services tailored to a customer's specific requirements. An optimized bandwidth allocation scheme is employed which mitigates cost of space segment, whereby idle terminals release their bandwidth assignments to a shared pool. HX remote terminals utilize FDMA/TDMA channels to communicate with the HX Gateway in star mode, or simultaneously to other terminals in mesh mode, with each channel supporting high-speed data rates.

Skyband is one of the first VSAT (very small aperture terminal) service providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Skyband offers a wide range of communications solutions including managed network services, ATM and banking connectivity, GSM networks and backhaul, video conferencing, and broadband IP applications to a variety of enterprise and government sectors. The HX System is ideal for these and other specialty markets such as Virtual Network Operator (VNO) hosting and "Comms On-The-Move" (COTM) for airborne/maritime/land, including defense and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) solutions. 

About Skyband
Skyband is a member of the Saudi Inteltec Group and is one of the first VSAT (very small aperture terminal) service providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under license from the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC). Skyband operates a Network Operation Center (NOC) and provides Data Center Managed Services throughout the country utilizing the latest satellite and VSAT technologies providing data, voice, and video to its customers. Skyband provides high-speed, reliable, robust, cost-effective, scalable and secure communications to all industry and government sectors.

Skyband also provides end-to-end payment processing services to a significant portion of merchants in Saudi Arabia, over dial-up, IP and mobile payment devices and terminals. Skyband designs, delivers, and manages customized network solutions for branch connectivity. These solutions can be point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, and multipoint-to-multipoint; GSM network and backhaul (cell-on-wheels); ATM and banking connectivity; mobile ATMs; business continuity planning; data center managed services (co-location hosting, network security, storage management, etc.), managed network services; Internet access over satellite; ERP connectivity solutions; video-conferencing; and multicast e-learning solutions.

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

SOURCE Hughes Network Systems, LLC