Satellite firm wants to get noticed for broadband - The Hill's Hillicon Valley

Hughes Networks, a satellite company based in Germantown, Md., has staked out a conferenc room in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, just around the corner from the Federal Communications Commission. Video-conferencing, VoIP-calling and movie-streaming demonstrations have been set up to look like a living room, and company executives are on hand today to show FCC staffers just what satellite-powered broadband can do.

They were there yesterday, too. Hughes wants to get across a simple message: don't forget about satellite companies in the broadband expansion efforts. Hughes provides satellite service to people who aren't reached by the terrestrial Internet service providers (a.k.a. cable and DSL service). That includes rural areas as well as suburban neighborhoods, where fiber exists, but residents for some reason cannot get connected...