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Hughes to extend satellite Internet service to Latin America
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Friday, November 22, 2002
SND Electronics Inc. has signed a deal with Hughes Network Systems Inc. that will enable the electronic components and computer peripherals distributor to provide Latin America customers HNS Direcway Internet service through HNS' hub and centralized network management center in Germantown, Maryland.
HNS will supply all support services, equipment, software and technology necessary for SND to deliver a range of two-way, IP-based services to its customers, including broadband Internet connectivity, VoIP, video conferencing, electronic payments, content delivery services and other applications.
Red Technologies SA, Guatemala, a service provider with offices in El Salvador and Dominican Republic, will offer the service in collaboration with SND. Products and services will initially be offered in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Guatemala, and gradually expand to other Central American countries, Mexico, the Caribbean and possibly Brazil.
This agreement, which will give SND monthly residuals from service contracts, is one step removed from the company's distribution model. SND brokers electronic components in North America and operates as a computer peripherals authorized distributor in Latin America for companies like Microsoft and Intel. ce Consumer Electronic AG, SND's parent company in Munich, is publicly traded on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt (CEW2), the segment of the Deutsche Boerse for high growth companies.
Christopher DeNisco, SND's president, chief executive officer, and vice chairman of the board of directors, said the distributor had supplied chips through its electronic components division to EMS providers that manufacture the satellites, but the agreement with HND Direcway originated through its Guatemala office.
This is where field sales engineers had been working on a global positioning system to install in delivery trucks. The GPS devices would enable the user to track the trucks in the event of a robbery. The GPS efforts became a satellite agreement.
"We have an initial order from the ministry of Education in Guatemala," DeNisco said. "During the first year, we are looking at a market in Central America of approximately $5 million for initial sales. However, that is expected to reach several hundred million within five years."
DeNisco said SND is working on a deal to branch into content services to offer online courses to schools such as the University of Florida.
"Direcway services are available continent-wide," said Frank Klisch, vice president and general manager for HNS Latin America, Guatemala. "User terminals can be set up quickly and easily, and customers can upgrade their service plans for higher bandwidth with a simple phone call."
HNS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Electronics Corp., a business unit of General Motors Corp., is a broadband satellite network solutions provider with more than 500,000 systems ordered or shipped to customers in 85 countries.
By: DocMemory
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