Steve Mehs
12-13-02, 04:22 AM
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hughes President and CEO Jack Shaw said he wasn't confident about the future of the company's satellite broadband services, adding that Hughes may pull the plug on its pair of Internet initiatives it considers financially risky.
Shaw told the newspaper that it would be "very difficult" to continue the DirecWAY satellite-based Internet service, which has been losing money and has less than 175,000 subscribers. The service is substantially more expensive than digital cable and other competitors.
Shaw also said Hughes will eliminate the residential portion of Spaceway, the company's next-generation satellite broadband effort. Spaceway is slated to go into service in 2004.
Hughes officials stressed that the $1.8 billion Spaceway project is going forward and remains on schedule. But the residential component isn't likely to survive. "We would look at a consumer offering" again, Shaw told the Journal, but not until Spaceway is launched and beginning full-scale operation.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/dec2002/121302.shtm#two) (Used with Permission)
Shaw told the newspaper that it would be "very difficult" to continue the DirecWAY satellite-based Internet service, which has been losing money and has less than 175,000 subscribers. The service is substantially more expensive than digital cable and other competitors.
Shaw also said Hughes will eliminate the residential portion of Spaceway, the company's next-generation satellite broadband effort. Spaceway is slated to go into service in 2004.
Hughes officials stressed that the $1.8 billion Spaceway project is going forward and remains on schedule. But the residential component isn't likely to survive. "We would look at a consumer offering" again, Shaw told the Journal, but not until Spaceway is launched and beginning full-scale operation.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/dec2002/121302.shtm#two) (Used with Permission)