Satcoms giant Hughes has again been involved in deals that will deliver remote connectivity, this time in both India and Costa Rica.
The company’s Indian division, Hughes Communications India (HCI), has launched the country’s first commercial high-throughput satellite (HTS), using capacity from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s GSAT satellite service. This follows a year-long trial in selected parts of northern India.
The Hughes HTS service combines Ku-band from ISRO’s GSAT-11 and GSAT-29 satellites with the Hughes Jupiter platform. The result, says HCI, will be the delivery of high-speed broadband in many parts of the country, including some of the most remote areas.
Indian’s Economic Times says the HTS is able to support 4G backhaul, 5G backhaul, Wi-Fi connectivity for community internet and mobility services both on land and in the air. It will also improve rural inclusion.
Hughes has initially contracted 1Gbps of capacity on the HTS but expects this to grow to 10Gbps-100Gbps. HCI Senior VP Shavaji Chatterjee was quoted in the Economic Times as saying that the initial HTS broadband service will have internet speeds in the range of 2-10 Mbps.
A number of industry clients have apparently already been signed up for the service. They include companies involved in banking and SMEs, as well as broadband and 4G telecom operators.
Remote connectivity is a theme of another Hughes deal, this time with Itellum Comunicaciones Costa Rica, a licensed internet service provider,which has selected Hughes managed satellite services to deliver high-speed internet throughout Costa Rica.
The managed solution combines capacity from the Hughes Jupiter 2 high-throughput satellite (HTS) with Jupiter ground network equipment, enabling Itellum to offer internet service to Costa Ricans who live and work where fibre and wireless services are not available.
