Hughes' Bardo Sees Growth in Broadband, Reliability

Like most engineering driven industries the Satellite 2010 conference brings out its share of techies and geeks. Walking the exhibit hall floor of this international show is an interesting experience as PhDs jockey for a glimpse of the latest modulator, dish de-icer or VSAT terminal.

Yet, peel back the geek factor and you find an interesting collection of characters who are quite adept at presenting a compelling business case for an organization to invest in satellite telecommunications and related technologies.

Hughes Network Systems’ Tony Bardo is certainly one of those characters. Hughes is often perceived as a company exceptional in engineering yet suspect in marketing. However, Bardo is making his best effort to drum up excitement for the company by pointing to several areas where Hughes is poised for growth.

The first is in the government space where Hughes has been in-market for about a year with its Inter-government Crisis Network (IGCN). IGCN is a satellite-based emergency communications system that can serve as a reliable and secure back-up to the terrestrial networks law enforcement, fire and rescue, and other first responders typically rely on during times of crisis.

Recent calamities in Haiti and Chile, as well as the Katrina induced evacuation of New Orleans demonstrated the severe impact natural disasters can have on terrestrial networks.

Bardo explains, “During Katrina, the telecom circuits were submerged and many towers toppled. Only satellite communications worked. We are way past due for satellite to be used on a broad basis as part of a government agency’s network strategy.”

Bardo’s second area of excitement about Hughes is in the provision of satellite-based broadband connectivity to rural businesses and consumers in the United States.

Bardo’s view is that the FCC’s recently announced plan to geographically expand broadband Internet access via a massive build-up of network infrastructure is somewhat unnecessary. That’s because this high-bandwidth access is already available via Hughes’ Spaceway offering.

Plus, the company announced its intention in June 2009 to launch a new, high throughput satellite called Jupiter in 2012.

After speaking with Bardo for about 20 minutes, I wondered why many government and enterprise customers, policy-makers, market influencers and, at some level, consumers are unaware of Hughes’ IGCN and Spaceway offerings. Perhaps the company needs more characters like Bardo.


This post was originally published on Strategic's What's New at Satellite 2010 blog.