JW & All:
JW..Ive been reading your posts since $6.00 (January 1996.
FYI from GMH (GM Hughes):
Thursday October 10 12:11 PM EDT
Hughes ( GM Hughes Electronics Corp ) DirecPC service
in browser pacts
GERMANTOWN, Md., Oct 10 (Reuter) - Hughes Network Systems said Thursday it was rolling
out to consumers its satellite-based, high speed DirecPC Internet access service.
In a series of annoucements, the company said it had agreed to a series of licensing deals with
leading Internet software and access providers to make the service easy to install and use by
consumers.
The service also is avaiable at retail in Compusa Inc superstores in California, it said.
Thursday's announcements mark Hughes' first concerted effort to sell the service to consumers,
although it has been available to consumers via a Web site for several months, a spokeswoman said.
DirecPC was introduced in April 1995 for use by companies who largely used the service to create
high-speed private networks.
The company said it will bundle Microsoft Corp Internet Explorer and Netscape Communications
Corp as optional browsers with its DirecPC Personal Edition now sold in California through
CompUSA superstores.
Hughes said it was working closely with two leading national Internet access providers -- Earthlink
Network Inc ( elnk ) and Netcom On-Line Communications Services Inc -- although the service can
work with any access service.
As part of its deal with Hughes, NETCOM said it will market DirecPC to its more than half-million
existing base of subscribers.
Hughes Network is unit of Hughes Electronics Corp, which is in turn a subsidiary of General Motors
Corp .
DirecPC allows users to download information from Internet access at speeds of up to 400 kilobits
per second.
The service is 14 times faster than modems running over phone lines at up to 28.8 kilobits, or
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) access that transmits data at speeds around four times
faster than over conventional phone lines.
DirecPC Personal Edition package requires a 21-inch satellite dish, connecting cable, and an
adapter card installed inside the customer's PC, which runs about $699.
Unlimited-access packages range from $39.95 per month to $129.95 per month, with lower cost
packages offered as well, Hughes said.
-- Eric Auchard, New York Newsdesk, 212-859-1736
Regards, AL |
