We are helping to power this connected future in several ways
Q1: To begin with, how has COVID impacted your industry and operations so far? Is business returning to normal? Would you like to also talk about any role the satellite industry played in reducing the impact?
A: At Hughes, we have always known that our services enable essential connectivity. In the midst of a global pandemic, people and businesses everywhere are seeing first-hand just how crucial connectivity is to healthcare, the economy and society in general. Hughes and the entire industry have been helping by connecting people around the world and providing the links to critical information – from precautions to help curb the spread of COVID-19 to access to telehealth resources to dissemination of government mandates such as at-home schooling and business occupancy levels.
Since the start of the pandemic, traffic on the HughesNet® network has increased dramatically in all our service areas: the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. We continue to optimize the network to serve our customers’ ongoing needs for connectivity—especially for telework and online schooling.
Connecting the unconnected has taken on a new urgency everywhere around the world. For instance, in Colombia, our partner Speedcast is deploying community Wi-Fi hotspots to remote and hard-to-reach villages using Hughes satellite capacity. In the Philippines, Cignal TV is launching satellite Internet service using the Hughes JUPITER™ System.
In the enterprise market, as distributed businesses, such as restaurant chains, retailers, gas stations and even government offices, pivot away from in-person operations to online ordering and payments, curb-side pick-up, home delivery, and constant video conference calls, they are depending on the networks that we manage to enable these important operations.
As far as business “returning to normal,” operationally, Hughes has maintained business continuity for our customers around the world. While many of our employees are working from home, essential in-office personnel have been on-site throughout the pandemic, including: employees in our network and security operations centers; staff in our manufacturing facility; customer care and service representatives in call centers; and many of our engineering teams. Moreover, our installers have been working in the field to connect new customers and service existing ones across our consumer and enterprise businesses around the world, all while following the most up-to-date best practices from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and national and local governments to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Like everyone, we are hopeful for a ‘return to normal’ sooner rather than later, and we look forward to having our employees back in our offices. From a larger perspective, we believe that there will be permanent ramifications from this unprecedented situation. Two of those consequences are highly relevant to our mission: the long-term adoption and investment in teleworking technologies, and the necessity of connectivity for all.
Q: As we move towards a world full of multi-path connectivity, how are different satellite technologies evolving to achieve this goal? How is Hughes contributing to this?
A: The simple fact is that no single transport technology can meet the demand for seamless, reliable connectivity for people, enterprises and things. Instead, the future of connectivity is a ubiquitous network that leverages all transport types – GEO, MEO and LEO satellites, plus cable, fiber, 4G/LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – and satellite is integral to the functioning of that network.
We are helping to power this connected future in several ways. First, we have decades of experience managing enterprise networks with diverse paths across large geographies. We manage nearly half a million enterprise sites globally—including nearly 40,000 managed SD-WAN sites with single deployments up to 4,500 sites—spanning fiber, cable, cellular and satellite.
Second, we are innovating the technologies that enable multi-transport connectivity. Our HT2000L terminal is one example, enabling both satellite and LTE connections in a single device. The first of its kind in the industry, the HT2000L operates as the primary network path or as back-up, with automatic failover switching between the two paths and is in use for SD-WAN networks for distributed enterprises and as a back-up system for small business connectivity.
Another example of our innovations to support multi-transport networks is the incorporation of Layer 2 functionality into our JUPITER System platform. The leading VSAT platform in the world, the JUPITER System enables high performing, efficient services across 40 satellites around the world. The platform incorporates Layer 2 functionality to seamlessly integrate multi-transport terrestrial and satellite traffic, establishing a transparent bridge between a base station and the mobile core thereby greatly simplifying the network design and implementation. In Indonesia, the JUPITER System is being deployed by five service providers to enable cellular backhaul and Internet access at 8,000 sites under a project with BAKTI, a division of the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information. So far, the JUPITER System has been deployed in over 1,600 base station sites in Indonesia in what is likely the largest Layer 2 over satellite deployment in the world.
In order to realize the benefits of multi-path connectivity, systems require interoperability. Hughes is pioneering the technology necessary to ensure seamless transition between satellites and satellite types: our JUPITER System already allows for aero roaming; and we have successfully tested the capability of in-flight switching between GEO and MEO for aeronautical applications. In the defense sector, the Hughes Flexible Modem Interface (FMI) enhances interoperability between networks by leveraging standardized interfaces and a multi-modem adaptor to give satellite terminals the ability to roam across various satellite networks. The software component leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to control terminals in the event of a signal disruption and reconnect using a different satellite. At Hughes, we believe that GEO and LEO constellations complement one another. This is why we have agreed in principle to invest $50 million in the consortium of the U.K. Government and Bharti Enterprises purchasing OneWeb from bankruptcy. While GEO provides exceptional capacity density and an affordable cost per bit, LEO constellations will provide global coverage – including in the polar regions – and lower latency service. A multi-transport architecture takes maximum advantage of the benefits of each class of satellite, delivering superior capacity and connectivity to fixed and mobile, surface and airborne user terminals.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the upcoming J3 satellite launch? What segments and areas are you targeting with this?
A: JUPITER 3 is our next-generation Ultra High-Density Satellite (UHDS) expected to launch in the second half of 2021. The satellite is being manufactured by Maxar in California.
At launch, JUPITER 3 is likely to be the largest commercial satellite ever deployed and will provide more than 500 Mbps capacity (more than two times the capacity of JUPITER 2). When JUPITER 3 joins our fleet of High-Throughput Satellites, comprised of JUPITER 1 and 2, as well as Hughes 63 West (Telstar 19V payload), Hughes 65 West (Eutelsat 65W payload) and Hughes 20 West (Al-Yah 3 payload over Brazil), our entire JUPITER-enabled fleet will deliver more than 1 terabit of capacity over North and South America.
JUPITER 3 will significantly expand HughesNet, our consumer broadband offering which already has more than 1.5 million subscribers. Notably, the satellite will enable service plans with speeds of up to 100 Mbps. JUPITER 3 capacity will also support enterprise, government, aero and maritime mobility providers as well as mobile network operators in extending network reach through cellular backhaul and community Wi-Fi hotspot services.
Q: Satellite has always been a key provider of networks to the unconnected areas. Would you like to share some of your latest initiatives related to connecting underserved or unserved communities?
A: Hughes continues to forge partnerships around the world to help connect unserved or underserved populations.
In addition to enabling Community Wi-Fi Hotspots with Speedcast in Colombia, we also are powering Community Wi-Fi Hotspots with Speedcast in the Philippines. There, Speedcast is using a JUPITER gateway and 3,000 satellite terminals to establish Internet access in public places across the island nation, such as parks, plazas, libraries, government offices, schools, universities, hospitals, airports and health clinics. The award is part of the Pipol Konek Free Public Internet Access Program implemented by the Philippines Department of Information and Communications (DICT) with support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
In Indonesia, in addition to the project with BAKTI, our customer Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), the oldest private satellite telecommunication and information service provider in Indonesia, uses the JUPITER System for broadband services over the PSN VI High-Throughput Satellite. They are helping to bridge the digital divide in Indonesia with satellite-enabled high-speed Internet access and Community Wi-Fi Hotspots.
In one African nation, a Ministry of Health is connecting remote clinics to their central database for online access to health data at the national and local level as well as tele-health training and patient consultation. So far, 250 of 850 planned sites have been connected using a JUPITER System hub and terminals.
A Ministry of Education in an African nation is also using Hughes technology to connect remote secondary schools to the central education department for online, interactive distance learning. The agency is on-track to connect 1,500 sites by the end of 2020 and an additional 2,000 sites in 2021.
Q: Do you expect to see any major breakthroughs or innovations across the satellite sector in the near future? Can we expect to see something disrupting?
A: One area in which Hughes is pioneering industry leading technology is in Artificial Intelligence (AI), including Machine Learning (ML). For example, our engineers are applying AI and ML for network triage, traffic prediction and network efficiencies.
In the enterprise sector, Hughes is the first managed services provider to deliver a self-healing WAN edge capability to customers. The technology automatically predicts and preempts—or “self-heals”—undesirable network behavior, preventing service-disrupting symptoms in 70% of cases.
Hughes has a strong AI Center of Excellence team that is continuously exploring various ways AI and ML can advance networks and satellite technology to the next level. We believe that work will continue to yield innovations that define new standard for multi-transport connectivity and managing the increasingly complex networks of the future.
Q: What will be the key focus for Hughes during the rest of 2020? Any major milestones to achieve in the near future?
A: First and foremost, we are focused on supporting our customers around the world with the connectivity they need, especially during this unprecedented time in history.
Second, we’re excited about the completion and launch of JUPITER 3 and continued improvements to the Hughes JUPITER System, the platform of choice for satellite networks worldwide.
Third, we look forward to the completion of two significant transactions in the coming months. One is the combination of Bharti Airtel’s VSAT business with our Hughes India business. The combination of India’s leading VSAT operators will bring the scale, operational efficiencies and reach to enable the networks that power Digital India. The other is the completion of our investment in the consortium, led by the U.K. Government and Bharti Enterprises, acquiring OneWeb out of bankruptcy. As OneWeb emerges from bankruptcy, we expect to continue our involvement as a technology and distribution partner.
And finally, we have a major milestone on the horizon: Hughes will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021, marking 50 years as the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services. We’ll be developing special content and events to mark the occasion—and we hope you will join us in celebrating the many ways that satellites—and Hughes—continue to make a better, more connected world for people everywhere.
