The Elite plan features download speeds of up to 2Mbps and ElitePlus features download speeds of up to 3Mbps.

"Consumers and small businesses in rural areas have been left behind," said Peter Gulla, Hughes vice president of marketing. "Access to dial tone may be universal in the US, but access to DSL or cable modem service is not. The lack of broadband adversely affects mostly rural communities."

Experts say that families and home businesses without broadband access will be left at a competitive disadvantage and run the risk of becoming disenfranchised from their customers and the marketplace.

And, according to analysts, there are roughly 12 to 15 million homes in pockets of America, both rural and urban, that do not have access to a broadband connection.

"With the help of HughesNet and its high-speed service plans, consumers and home businesses located in areas otherwise left behind by terrestrial providers, can take their products and services nationwide," said Jimmy Schaefler of the Carmel Group.

"With speeds on par with DSL, businesses are able to increase productivity and consumers are able to participate in e-commerce and other online applications that are not available to them on a dial-up connection."

With the Elite service plans, subscribers can:

- Enjoy download speeds on par with terrestrial providers of 2 to 3 Mbps;

- Effectively run a home-based business;

- Engage in e-commerce activities; and

- Access information, whether for business or pleasure, at speeds rivaled by no other satellite broadband provider.

Elite and ElitePlus join existing plans Home, Pro, and ProPlus, which offer a range of upload and download speeds and prices. From upload speeds of up to 128 kbps to up to 300 kbps and download speeds from up to 700 kbps to 3.0 Mbps, Hughes offers plans to meet any consumer's or home business's needs.

Elite and ElitePlus were made possible by the launch of Hughes' SPACEWAY 3, the largest satellite in the US and the world's first commercial satellite with on-board switching and routing.

SPACEWAY 3 has the greatest total capacity of any commercial satellite, which fuels the faster speeds. SPACEWAY 3 was launched in August of 2007 and began serving customers in April of 2008.

Related Links
HughesNet
Satellite-based Internet technologies

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