Germantown,
Md., May 29, 2009—Hughes Network
Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the world’s leading
provider of broadband satellite networks
and services, today announced that Encore
Networks has been added as a Technology
Partner to the Hughes Broadband Alliance
Program to enhance it’s recently announced
Utility Solutions offering. Hughes certified
Encore’s complete line of rugged and
commercial-grade BANDIT™ satellite routers
for use with the Hughes suite of utility
solutions, including Business Internet
with VPN, business continuity, and private
network solutions.
A key market for Hughes Utility Solutions
is the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA) needs of utility companies. The
North American Electric Reliability Corporation
(NERC) has mandated a set of CIP requirements
to ensure the security of data transmitted
between generation and transmission sub-stations
and control centers. This is forcing
many utilities to upgrade to more secure
and reliable broadband solutions. By
utilizing Encore’s serial protocol to
IP support capabilities, Hughes can provide
secure, high-performance end-to-end satellite
connections for legacy SCADA networks,
thus meeting mandated requirements.
In addition to SCADA support, Encore’s
commercial-grade routers work seamlessly
with Hughes Business Internet services,
allowing remote locations to connect
to the Internet securely over an industry
standard IPSec VPN. Unlike traditional
VPN solutions which can degrade performance,
Encore’s patented Selective Layer Encryption
(SLE) technology all but eliminates the
performance degradation normally associated
with running IPsec VPNs over satellite
connections. This is ideal for any business
that requires secure Internet access
for hard-to-reach locations beyond the
DSL and cable footprint, including remote
utility infrastructure locations.
In addition to secure Internet connections,
Hughes can provide easy-to-deploy non-Internet-based,
private network solutions using Encore’s
technology to support legacy serial
protocols, thus avoiding costly upgrades
of legacy infrastructure. With Hughes
and Encore, the utility industry can
enjoy high-performance, secure broadband
access without expensive network upgrades.
As part of their ongoing Smart Grid
initiatives, utility companies are looking
for ways to ensure their networks obtain
near 100% reliability. Encore’s industrial-hardened
routers have built-in disaster recovery/failover
features that work seamlessly with Hughes
business continuity offerings. As a result,
Hughes can provide utilities true end-to-end,
path-diverse backup via satellite or
3G wireless to guard against primary
network outages.
“Our Hughes Utility Solutions are designed
to provide utilities cost-effective,
secure broadband wherever they need it—regardless
of location, as well as to provide near
100% network uptime through path diverse
wireless backup of their primary network,”
said Doug Medina, senior director of
marketing at Hughes. “Whether the need
is to migrate to standards-based IP from
legacy serial applications, SCADA applications
or VPN, Encore’s technology is a natural
complement to our offering and one that
has already been well received in the
market. The BANDIT’s rugged construction
allows for installation in outdoor enclosures
and electrical sub-stations in the most
remote locations with harsh environments.”
“We are very excited to have been chosen
by Hughes as a technology partner,” said
Matt Girard, senior director of business
development for Encore Networks. “Together,
we ensure regulatory compliance today
and enable utility companies to be ready
as future smart grid technology evolves.”
Visit Hughes at Booth No. 114 and Encore
at Booth Number 800 at the upcoming UTC
TELECOM 2009 event in Las Vegas, June
1st -3rd, http://www.utctelecom2009.utc.org. |
