Satellite Broadband Could Solve Digital Divide

SPACEMART

we want broadband too

Germantown - May 24, 2001
"With satellite broadband, there is no digital divide. There will be no have's or have-not's," said Mike Cook, vice president and general manager of Spaceway, a division of Hughes Network Systems, in testimony given today to a joint hearing of the House Small Business Committee's subcommittees on "Regulatory Reform and Oversight" and on "Rural Enterprises, Agriculture and Technology."

He stressed the importance of broadband to small businesses. "Small business will require broadband access not merely to be more competitive, but in order to survive," he said.

Pointing out that "the only technology that will ubiquitously provide cost-effective broadband access across the entire U.S. is satellite technology," Cook said that, unfortunately, legislators and regulators often overlook the great potential of satellites to provide broadband service to small businesses, particularly in rural areas.

"We encourage the Committee to examine the crucial role of spectrum allocation and the most effective way it can be used to serve small businesses," he said.

"Tax and other incentive legislation should be inclusive of all technologies and should be written in a way that acknowledges the key role that satellite technology will play in broadband infrastructure development," Cook added.

The head of Spaceway, Hughes' next generation interactive satellite broadband unit, Cook outlined the extensive technological and financial commitments that Hughes has already made to provide high-speed broadband access to small businesses through its current DirecPC and DirecWay services.

"With the services we are deploying today and with the enhanced capabilities we will offer with Spaceway, small businesses, wherever they are, will have affordable access to the broadband universe, without discrimination or financial disadvantages."

The joint hearing, titled "Eliminating the Digital Divide -- Who Will Wire Rural America?," was chaired by Subcommittee Chairmen Pence (R-IN) and Thune (R-SD).

Its purpose was to explore technologies used to deliver broadband services to rural areas, the current state of the broadband infrastructure in rural America and the barriers to further deployment of broadband services in rural communities.

Spaceway is a high-speed, high-bandwidth communications satellite system scheduled for North American launch in 2002 and service in 2003.

This next- generation broadband technology system will provide bandwidth-on-demand capability by employing geostationary satellites with innovative on-board digital processors, packet switching and spot-beam technology.

Spaceway satellites will transmit data over 1,000 times faster than data carried over conventional telephone lines.

SPACEMART

Brazilians Get Two-Way Satellite Connection To The Internet

Rio De Janeiro - May 14, 2001
Star One, Universo Online (UOL) and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.'s StarBand Latin America business today announced they have entered into an agreement to provide Brazil's first consumer, two-way satellite broadband Internet service.

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