Hughes Buys Helius

GERMANTOWN, Md. -- 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® 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.”

Helius Inc.