A Whiting-Turner Lecture — April 8, 2010

Abstract

With the advent of commercial digital satellite communication services in the '60s, operated by Intelsat and pioneered by various companies including Hughes, the industry has had explosive growth worldwide. Over the decades, the industry has been led by Hughes, in the design, manufacturing and operations of satellite based digital communication networks servicing many different markets. Initially, commercial digital satellite communications was being used primarily for international telephony trunking purposes. Today it is still used for telephony but the uses have transitioned to television broadcast, broadband Internet access data services and mobile phone services as well. Initially the customer base was only Intelsat member countries; today it includes the entire spectrum of telecom users from consumers, enterprises, cable operators, cellular companies to traditional phone companies. Further, with the introduction of GPS, navigation services have become an essential part of everyday life.

Hughes has been a dominant force in the global digital satellite communications market throughout these times and has typically has enjoyed approximately +60 percent market share over the years in the markets they have chosen to address. This lecture will present some of the markets Hughes serves, the market and technology evolution that allowed successful entry points, and the associated strategies and the technological challenges that needed to be overcome. In closing, Kaul also will address the future market opportunities for digital satellite communications and associated challenges.

Biography

Pradeep Kaul is currently the president and CEO of Hughes Systique Corporation (HSC), a telecom consulting and software engineering organization. HSC is headquartered in Rockville, Md., and has its development center in Delhi, India. HSC was formed in 2005 by Kaul and three other founders. Overall, Kaul has had 35 years of broad digital telecommunication experiences.

Prior to launching HSC, Kaul shared in the general management of Hughes Network Systems (HNS) as an executive vice president of the company. Kaul also was a member of the Office of the Chairman. In growing HNS from a $100 million acquisition to the $1.5 billion level, Kaul served as the head of various functional groups, at different points of time, including engineering and global marketing and sales.

During his career at Hughes, he led the packet switching group during the ‘80s and the digital cellular businesses during the ‘90s. Among several key initiatives during this period, Kaul led HNS in creating the successful GM OnStar emergency and entertainment services via a joint venture with Delco Electronics and EDS. OnStar subsequently was acquired by GM.

Kaul has published several telecom related articles, served on public and private company boards and has contributed to many key patents in the telecom field. More recently, Kaul has been active in the venture capital world as both an investor and an advisor. Over the last 15 years he has participated in creating over 20 companies.