Audio Video News

Satellite television subscribers will soon be able to take advantage of a new satellite-based Internet service being rolled out by two subsidiaries of Hughes Electronics Corporation.

According to an August 2 announcement, direct broadcast satellite service DirecTV and sister company Hughes Network Systems have begun marketing Direcway, a satellite-based broadband service. The two companies plan to combine high-speed satellite Internet service with digital multi-channel entertainment services for DirecTV's subscriber base of over 10 million customers. The service is also expected to attract a new generation of subscribers. More than 45 million people in the United States subscribe to either DBS or Internet services.

Those who sign up for the service will need the new Direcway antenna that provides both broadband Internet service and access to more than 225 channels of DirecTV programming. The Direcway-based broadband satellite service will be priced in the $60-$70 per month range and will be offered in addition to DirecTV's DSL service, whose marketing efforts were launched this spring. Hardware and installation will be available through independent satellite dealers and retail outlets later this year, the announcement stated.

"The Direcway service enables new and existing DirecTV customers to get the best of both worlds, all from a single dish," said Paul Gaske, executive vice president and general manager for Hughes Network Systems. "As the pioneers in the satellite broadband market, no one can deliver satellite-based services to consumers everywhere better than Hughes." DirecTV president and chief operating officer Roxanne Austin said the plan "solidifies our broadband anywhere strategy" which "enables retailers to bundle and sell to consumers a robust high-speed satellite Internet service along with the nation's preeminent digital multichannel television service."