Hughes Network Systems Inc. has unveiled a satellite broadband solution featuring a package of video applications aimed at large IT enterprises. The multicasting application is available as an option to Hughes's DIRECWAY delivery platform.
The new Multimedia Services, announced Wednesday, delivers video via satellite for corporate television, Web conferencing, multimedia, and digital advertising.
"This is a huge multicasting capability for a low cost," said Douglas Medina, senior director of Hughes's product service marketing, in an interview. "We bypass the ILECs and all the different carriers." The DIRECWAY service enables enterprise customers to deliver a video message to thousands of access points simultaneously.
Medina said about 200 enterprise customers are currently using the service. "For instance, brokerage-industry customers are using DIRECWAY to multicast to thousands of brokerage sites across the country." Medina said some 55,000 end users are set up to receive the service. DIRECWAY is also catching on for telecommuting applications in regions where DSL and cable broadband is not available.
Medina said the new video offerings are a natural extension of DIRECWAY's virtual private network (VPN) technology, which was introduced in September. He noted that enterprises are using DIRECWAY for different applications, ranging from distance learning and training, to credit and back-office usage. "For the cost of two or three dial-up lines, you can get this always-on broadband service," he said.
