Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), the global leader in broadband satellite solutions and services, today announced the launch of HughesNet® high-speed satellite Internet service in Colombia beginning on September 28, the company's second international deployment of its award-winning consumer service beyond North America.
Operating over the EchoStar XIX high-throughput satellite (HTS)—with the world's highest capacity at over 200 Gbps—HughesNet service coverage reaches 75 percent of Colombia's population, bringing the many benefits of affordable broadband Internet access to consumers and businesses either unserved or underserved by terrestrial broadband.
Hughes pioneered satellite Internet service for the mass market and this launch in Colombia builds upon its successful operations in North America and Brazil – with, to date, over 1 million subscribers, making it the world's largest high-speed satellite network. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently rated HughesNet as #1 among all U.S. broadband providers, including both terrestrial and satellite, for delivering on advertised speeds. With this launch, HughesNet service is available now to more than 214 million people in South America.
"Colombia has many of the same market dynamics as in Brazil, primarily large untapped demand for high-speed Internet access in areas either unserved or underserved by terrestrial Internet providers," said Pradman Kaul, president of Hughes. "We are now expanding our proven delivery and support infrastructure to Colombia under our successful business model to close the digital divide – bringing people a range of high-speed Internet plans to suit every budget, no matter where they live or work."
"Colombia is a key market in extending our footprint across the Americas," said Vinod Jain, vice president of Hughes. "HughesNet in Colombia will bring consumers and businesses choices of attractive service plans, offering download speeds up to 30 Mbps, enabling customers to do more online than ever before, including email, online shopping, downloading music and video, using social media and browsing the web."
HughesNet Colombia service is powered by the latest generation of the Hughes JUPITER™ System, the world's most widely deployed satellite network platform and one of the first to employ the DVB-S2x standard for highly efficient use of satellite bandwidth.