Hughes Announces Emergency Network Solutions for Hurricane Season

Solutions Ensure Network Continuity for Government When Disaster Strikes

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Jun 09, 2015, 09:00 ET

GERMANTOWN, Md., June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), the global leader in broadband satellite solutions and services, today announced the availability of Hughes Emergency Services as the 2015 hurricane season begins, a comprehensive suite of satellite network solutions for emergency preparedness, restoral and post-event response. Designed to provide robust, expedited broadband Internet connectivity for government when a disaster strikes and terrestrial networks are most vulnerable to disruption, Hughes Emergency Services deliver high-speed downloads of from 5 Mbps up to 15 Mbps, and can be rapidly deployed virtually anywhere nationwide.

While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center is predicting a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season, officials cautioned that no matter the predictions, any disaster can result in significant impact to communities—such as Hurricane Andrew—a 1992 Category 5 hurricane, which hit South Florida during what was predicted to be a season with only seven hurricanes.

"It only takes one hurricane to devastate a community, and when that happens the situation becomes much harder to manage without a robust communications network," said Tony Bardo, assistant vice president for Government Solutions at Hughes. "All terrestrial networks are vulnerable when disaster strikes —whether cable, fiber or wireless—and satellite offers the only true alternate path solution to ensure essential voice and data connectivity for public safety officials and first responders, especially in those first critical hours when lives are stake. With Hughes Emergency Services, Government agencies, non-profits and businesses can pro-actively incorporate satellite technology into their communications continuity plans now, and avoid re-learning the painful lessons of the past."

Hughes offers three solutions to ensure uninterrupted communications connectivity in the wake of a hurricane:

Hughes Emergency Response Solutions. Designed to provide satellite broadband Internet for emergency response and recovery scenarios.
Hughes Continuity of Operations (COOP) Solutions. Designed for emergency communications preparedness, these path-diverse solutions provide Internet connectivity when terrestrial fixed or wireless primary networks fail.
Hughes Emergency Network Restoral (ENR) Solutions. Blend of pre-disaster planning and set-up with rapid post-event deployment, offering a completely diverse Virtual Private Network (VPN) backup service for locations connected by Wide Area Networks (WAN).

In preparing for hurricane season, government organizations and businesses should have a back-up generator and plenty of batteries on hand in case electrical power is not maintained, and follow these steps to stay connected during hurricane season 2015:

Prepare and protect critical data. Evaluate which applications and information systems are essential. This can include Continuity of Operations (COOP) and emergency response plans, accounting documents, inventory logs and constituent information. Organizations should back up information frequently and store the data in a safe, secure and dependable facility. Since data may be lost due to flooding, consider storing it at an off-site location.
Do not hesitate to go on alert. If a facility is at risk of losing service for an extended period of time, put its Web host provider on alert.

For more information, visit http://government.hughes.com/emergencycomm. To order directly, call 1-888-373-0761.

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 4.8 million systems to customers in over 100 countries, representing approximately 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.

About EchoStar
EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) is a premier global provider of satellite and video delivery solutions. Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., and conducting business around the globe, EchoStar is a pioneer in secure communications technologies through its EchoStar Satellite Services, EchoStar Technologies Corporation and Hughes Network Systems business segments. For more information, visit echostar.com. Follow @EchoStar on Twitter.

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SOURCE Hughes Network Systems, LLC