Helius to Enhance Hughes' Business IPTV and Managed Network Service Offerings

Hughes Communications, Inc. (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite network solutions and a leading broadband managed network services provider, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Helius, Inc., a portfolio company of Canopy Ventures.

The acquisition is expected to be completed on or about February 4, 2008.

Upon completion of the acquisition, Helius will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes and will operate closely with Hughes' North America and International enterprise businesses.

The acquisition will combine the skills of Helius, a recognized leader in providing business IPTV solutions for applications such as training, corporate communications, and digital signage, with the extensive broadband networking experience and customer base of Hughes. Hughes plans to deploy Helius' innovative IP video technologies to enhance its existing HughesNet(R) service offerings.

Hughes has a large and growing customer base of government, retail, hospitality, and petroleum customers with an interest in business IPTV applications. Recent developments in broadband and video compression technologies allow internal and customer-facing digital media applications to be delivered for a fraction of the cost of previous systems.

When combined with Hughes' networking services, the Helius product suite provides a cost-effective and compelling enterprise networking and communications solution.

"As a premier managed network services provider to enterprise and SMB customers, Hughes saw a natural fit in teaming with Helius to better address the market for digital media solutions," said Pradman Kaul, president and CEO of Hughes. "We believe this acquisition will uniquely position Hughes as a cost-effective, end-to-end service provider offering content management, hardware, installation, maintenance, network operations, and services."

"Businesses around the globe are looking for better ways to communicate with their customers and employees," said Mike Tippets, president and CEO of Helius. "Together with Hughes we are able to provide those organizations, and the integrators who service them, with end-to-end solutions that are easy to buy and easy to use."

Founded in 1995, Helius is a worldwide leader in business-class data broadcasting solutions and has been focused on the data broadcasting and IP-over-satellite markets. It is a privately held firm with funding from The Canopy Group.

Hughes Communications, Inc.

Hughes Communications, Inc. is the 100 percent owner of Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Hughes is the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HughesNet encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and terrestrial technologies. Its broadband satellite products are based on the IPoS (IP over Satellite) global standard, approved by the TIA, ETSI, and ITU standards organizations. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 1.2 million systems to customers in over 100 countries.

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA.