Hughes Announces Plans for DirecPC(TM) Global Digital Package Delivery Service; New Service Will Use Satellite Platform for Rapid, Secure Worldwide Data Delivery
this sounds like Divi
03/10/98
PR Newswire
(Copyright (c) 1998, PR Newswire)
LOS ANGELES (Spring Internet World), March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine that you operate a consulting firm with offices in San Francisco, Mexico City, Edinburgh, Tokyo and New Delhi. To prepare your staff for a morning conference call, you need to distribute a large multimedia report containing graphics, video and animation to each of your remote offices so they receive it within a few hours.
Is there a technology that can accomplish this efficiently, securely and cost effectively? Absolutely -- DirecPC(TM), a satellite-based Internet and data delivery service from Hughes Network Systems (HNS).
This scenario will soon become a reality with the imminent launch of a new service from DirecPC -- Global Digital Package Delivery. This new service will enable users to send any type of data file -- from heavy graphics and text to video -- from one site to any number of sites, anywhere in the world. These files will be received by DirecPC dishes, (which utilize the same hardware configuration worldwide) and forwarded directly to the recipient's server or straight into individual PCs.
Applications for Global Digital Package Delivery are virtually limitless. For example, one company might distribute its new human resources manual -- including a video message from the CEO -- to desktops at all of its regional and remote offices throughout the world. Another might use the service to distribute updated parts catalogs to its field offices. It's a service the global business community has been waiting for.
Since DirecPC's inception in 1995, HNS has licensed operators to provide service in Canada, Mexico, Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, India, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and numerous other Pacific Rim nations. By the end of 1998, DirecPC's global rollout will be complete, with service available in every corner of the world.
"The fact is, businesses large and small -- no matter where they are located -- will be able to use satellites in this fashion before the end of this year," said Paul Gaske, senior vice president of Broadcast Products & Services at HNS. "There is a common and unfortunate misconception that affordable, global delivery of data by satellite is something the world won't see until we're well into the 21st century."
According to Gaske, many businesses, especially small ones, currently rely on overnight delivery services that can be costly and impractical if the same digital package must be sent to multiple sites. Alternatively, many companies use terrestrial networks for information distribution, which, can often be slow, unreliable and insecure. Fast, proprietary satellite transmission eliminates all of these hurdles, and at a considerable savings.
What Makes Global Digital Package Delivery Possible
The heart of every DirecPC operation -- no matter where it's located -- is the Network Operations Center (NOC). From the NOC, all direct communications with the satellite take place. To make Global Digital Package Delivery a reality, all existing and future NOCs will be operationally interconnected -- i.e., they will share common billing and delivery prioritization standards. Gaske explains: "Essentially, the technology already exists for global digital package delivery. What remains to be accomplished is quite modest: a common set of delivery and billing standards by which all our global DirecPC partners will operate when delivering information internationally. Clearly, this standardization is in everyone's interest, and we expect a smooth implementation process over the course of 1998."
DirecPC is HNS' award-winning satellite-based information service for businesses and consumers. Through the DirecPC hardware platform, businesses receive three primary services: Turbo Internet(TM) service, which provides Internet access at up to 400 Kbps; Package Delivery(TM), which allows point- to-multipoint distribution of data at up to 3Mbps; and DirecPC Multimedia, which allows point-to-multipoint distribution of full-screen, MPEG -l quality video straight to the desktop.
Headquartered in Germantown, Md., near Washington, DC, with international sales and support offices worldwide, Hughes Network Systems (http://www.hns.com) is a leading supplier of wireless, satellite and enterprise networking solutions. Hughes Network Systems is a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation. The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock. For more information about DirecPC, visit www.direcpc.com.
DirecPC, Turbo Internet and Package Delivery are trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, a Hughes Electronics Corporation company.
/CONTACT: Fritz Stolzenbach of Hughes Network Systems, 301-212-7890, or, fstolzenbach@hns.com; or Mitchell Derman of Edelman Worldwide, 202-326-1747, or, mitchell_derman@dc.edelman.com, for Hughes Network Systems/ 12:15 EST |
