Hughes and OneWeb Announce Global Distribution Partnership for Low Earth Orbit Satellite Service

Hughes will market OneWeb services around the world for applications such as enterprise and government networking, cellular backhaul and community Wi-Fi hotspots

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Hughes Network Systems, LLC

Mar 09, 2020, 08:00 ET

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, and OneWeb, the global communications company with a mission to bring connectivity to everyone everywhere, today announced that Hughes has become a worldwide distribution partner for OneWeb.

OneWeb logo

OneWeb's constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites will expand Hughes service offerings and ensure its customers can access low-latency, high-speed connectivity, wherever they are. Applications will include enterprise and government networking, cellular backhaul and community Wi-Fi hotspots.

"We are entering a new era of global connectivity demand that can only be fulfilled by a mix of data transport services, including terrestrial, geostationary and Low Earth Orbit satellites," said Pradman Kaul, president, Hughes. "OneWeb complements our service portfolio with a truly global coverage, low-latency option that will enable our customers to meet their end users' needs for connectivity everywhere."

The new agreement expands an already successful relationship between the two companies. Hughes is an investor, through its parent company EchoStar, and an ecosystem partner to OneWeb, helping to develop essential ground network technology for OneWeb's LEO system.

OneWeb works with carefully selected distribution partners in each of its core markets, providing new business and expansion opportunities through the low latency, global, high throughput attributes of OneWeb's network.

"Connectivity is only truly valuable when it delivers the user experience that customers need, and in today's fast-moving digital economy, businesses and civil government organizations need high quality, continuous internet access wherever they are," said Adrian Steckel, chief executive officer, OneWeb. "I'm delighted that Hughes is joining OneWeb on our mission to deliver this vision. Hughes is already an important investor and an invaluable technology partner, and I look forward to working together to bring OneWeb's pioneering technology to markets around the world."

OneWeb is building its initial constellation of 650 LEO satellites. By late 2021, OneWeb will be offering low latency globally, with the same capacity over the water, in the air, in previously unconnectable places, and everywhere else.

Service testing on the satellites already in orbit is underway, using gateways that Hughes is building for the network. Results are positive, including seamless satellite and beam handovers, high speeds and low latency.

The gateways feature multiple tracking antennas to support operation and handoff of high-speed user traffic to and from the LEO satellites, and can handle up to 10,000 terminal hand-offs per second – a technological and engineering breakthrough. Every OneWeb terminal, whether for fixed or mobile services, will incorporate a core module, including modem, developed and manufactured by Hughes.

Hughes at SATELLITE 2020: Making the Connected Future Possible
Hughes will exhibit at SATELLITE 2020, March 10-13, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., showcasing how consumers, businesses, governments and communities around the world benefit from the connected experiences enabled by Hughes technologies and services. See Hughes executives at SATELLITE 2020 for the latest technologies and solutions for GEO HTS and NGSO systems; Community Wi-Fi Hotspots and cellular backhaul; aero and maritime connectivity; military SATCOM; the latest in hybrid terrestrial-satellite technologies, and more. For further information, please visit www.hughes.com/sat20

About OneWeb
OneWeb's vision is to enable Internet access for everyone, everywhere. It is implementing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites with a network of global gateway stations and a range of user terminals to provide an affordable, fast, high-bandwidth and low-latency communications service for businesses and governments around the world. OneWeb has business solutions for broadband, government and cellular backhaul. Its global communications network will offer game-changing Mobility solutions to industries that rely on global connectivity, such as aviation, maritime, automotive and more.

OneWeb is dedicated to responsible space practices on the basis that space is a shared natural resource which, if used responsibly, can help transform the way we live, work, and connect. Softbank, Airbus, Qualcomm, Grupo Salinas, EchoStar, Coca-Cola, and the Government of Rwanda are investment partners.

Find out more at http://www.oneweb.world

About Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the global leader in broadband satellite technology and services for home and office. Its flagship high-speed satellite Internet service is HughesNet^®, the world's largest satellite network with over 1.4 million residential and business customers across the Americas. For large enterprises and governments, the company's HughesON™ managed network services provide complete connectivity solutions employing an optimized mix of satellite and terrestrial technologies. The JUPITER™ System is the world's most widely deployed High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) platform, operating on more than 40 satellites by leading service providers, delivering a wide range of broadband enterprise, mobility and cellular backhaul applications. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 7 million terminals of all types to customers in over 100 countries, representing approximately 50 percent market share, and its technology is powering broadband services to aircraft around the world.

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. For additional information about Hughes, please visit www.hughes.com and follow @HughesConnects on Twitter.

About EchoStar
EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) is a premier global provider of satellite communication solutions. Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., and conducting business around the globe, EchoStar is a pioneer in secure communications technologies through its Hughes Network Systems and EchoStar Satellite Services business segments. please visit www.hughes.com and follow @HughesConnects on Twitter.

SOURCE Hughes Network Systems, LLC