Most Small Businesses Unprepared for 2006 Hurricane Season

August 14, 2006; 06:24 AM

Germantown, Md. - According to numerous reports, during the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina, virtually every Internet connection in affected areas was downed. In fact, in a survey of small businesses located in the Gulf Coast region conducted by Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), 37 percent of those surveyed were without broadband service for more than five business days and 25 percent of those businesses reported losses of over $25,000 due to their lack of Internet connectivity.(1) With the 2006 hurricane season expected to be particularly active, small businesses can expect to lose significant revenue due to network down time, loss of orders, and the inability to conduct online transactions.

"Katrina aptly displayed the need for businesses to protect their business critical information in the event of a cable or DSL network failure," said Mike Cook, senior vice president of Hughes. "Satellite communications provides infrastructure where it's needed and continues to operate when terrestrial networks are severely damaged, assuring small business owners that their Internet connection is not interrupted, allowing them to send and receive e- mails, process orders, check inventory, and conduct day-to-day business. We encourage small business owners to follow our recommendations to ensure that they stay connected during the hurricane season."

Hughes suggests that small businesses follow these simple steps to stay connected, prevent revenue losses, and eliminate Internet downtime during this hurricane season.

* Have a back-up generator and plenty of batteries on hand. Maintaining electrical power will be a top priority for small business owners.

Without electrical power, you will not be able to support your Internet connection.

* Subscribe to a resilient high-speed Internet service, such as satellite broadband, so your company e-mail, product orders, and other business critical information can be maintained should your terrestrial network fail.

* Prepare and protect critical data. Evaluate which applications and data are essential, such as accounting documents and inventory logs, perform backups in a timely manner, and store the data in a safe, secure, and dependable facility. Since data may be lost due to flooding, consider storing data at an off-site location.

* Keep at least one corded phone connected to a wall jack to ensure that your business has telecommunications service in the event of an electrical-only outage.

* Do not hesitate to go on alert.  If you believe you are in jeopardy of losing service for an extended period of time, put your Web hosting provider on alert.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Hughes and its value-added resellers provided emergency satellite communications in many hard-hit areas to government and military agencies, small businesses, news reporters, relief organizations, churches, and schools. From transportable ATM machines so people could access cash to providing high-speed Internet access for families to stay connected and for medical centers to process records and order prescription drugs, satellite technology provided the communications lifeline.

To download the Hughes white paper, "Hurricane Preparedness for Small Business," please visit http://www.hughes.com and click on News/White Papers.

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

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes (www.hughes.com) maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HGCM).