Hughes has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Helius. 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.