DirectWay/Linux?

[Andrew Mathews]

Keith Morse wrote:
<snip>
> 
>>From a posting on the isp-wireless list today, there was a news article 
> that said that DirectTV will be scrapping DirectWay in the near future.
> 
<snip>

Hopefully not. The correction states:
<quote>
FYI - This is from NRTC, a Powered by DirecWay partner

December 13, 2002

Hughes Denies DIRECWAY Comments in
The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 12

Hughes Network Systems (HNS) has assured NRTC that an article appearing 
in the Dec. 12 Wall Street Journal under the headline ?Hughes to Halt 
Internet Offerings It Views Risky,? is in error.  Hughes tells us that 
The Journal took comments made several months ago by Jack Shaw, CEO of 
HNS parent company Hughes Electronics, out of context.

An NRTC representative was present earlier this week when HNS CEO 
Pradman Kaul outlined the company?s current position on DIRECWAY during 
the Lehman Brothers Technology Conference in Orlando, FL.  At that 
conference, Kaul said that HNS is continuing to offer DIRECWAY and 
expects to add 100,000 residential and small-office/home-office 
customers in the coming year.  In fact, he said, HNS currently is adding 
3,000 new DIRECWAY subscribers a week, which is ahead of the 
100,000-per-year pace.

Kaul also said that subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) is the most 
significant factor limiting DIRECWAY growth.  He estimated SAC to be 
$400-$500 per subscriber.  In our communications with HNS, they have 
indicated their desire to move away from the subsidization of DIRECWAY 
and retail distribution through DIRECTV. Instead, they seek to shift 
more distribution to ?Powered by partners,? including NRTC.  Hughes has 
said that they will focus their efforts on the Enterprise and SOHO 
marketplaces.

In July 2002, Jack Shaw speculated in public on the possibility of 
discontinuing DIRECWAY service.  Shaw?s comments appeared at the height 
of the public relations battle surrounding the proposed EchoStar/DIRECTV 
merger. At the time, many analysts believed that HNS was using Shaw?s 
comments and similar messages in an attempt to sway public opinion in 
favor of the proposed merger.  The Wall Street Journal reporter appears 
to have used those out-of-date statements as the basis of the article.

NRTC responded to the July 2002 comments in the July 19 issue of The 
Download.  As stated in that item, HNS executives assured NRTC then (and 
continue to assure) that they are not planning to pull the plug on 
DIRECWAY and will continue to support ongoing operation of that business.

Steve Weaver
Cherryland Online Services
</quote>

This is from: 
http://isp-lists.isp-planet.com/isp-wireless/0212/msg06472.html
-- 
Andrew Mathews
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