Barrett Xplore acquires additional Ka-Band Capacity from Hughes

    SPACEWAY 3, world's first switch-in-the-sky to provide broadband
    connectivity across Canada

    WOODSTOCK, NB, June 16 /CNW/ - Barrett Xplore Inc. (BXI), through its
Xplornet brand, is pleased to announce that Hughes Network Systems, LLC
(HUGHES) will provide additional Ka-band satellite capacity and services to
enable rural broadband services in Canada on Hughes' new SPACEWAY(TM) 3
satellite.
    The largest satellite serving the North American market, SPACEWAY 3 was
launched last year and is the world's first "switch in the sky" commercial
satellite enabling dish-to-dish connectivity. The agreement with Hughes
provides Xplornet with satellite capacity on SPACEWAY 3, a gateway earth
station, and remote terminals. These new capabilities allow Xplornet to expand
the broadband applications and services it offers to customers.
    "Xplornet is investing in technology to further our mandate to provide
urban-quality broadband to homes and businesses in rural Canada," said John
Maduri, CEO of Barrett Xplore. "The addition of the Hughes technology allows
us to expand capacity in Canada to help bridge the rural-urban digital
divide."
    "By using the new capabilities provided by the SPACEWAY 3 platform,
Barrett Xplore can better serve their markets across Canada," said Mike Cook,
senior vice president at Hughes. "In addition to enabling higher speed
services, SPACEWAY 3 also offers end-to-end Class of Service (CoS)
capabilities to better prioritize business applications for the best
performance possible."
    Xplornet will work quickly to develop specific packages that offer the
greatest value to rural Canadian business owners and residential customers.
Full service will be available by mid-2008. "There's no question that with the
additional capacity from Hughes, Xplornet can bring broadband applications to
areas of rural Canada where it has never been possible before," said Maduri.

    Barrett Xplore - through its Xplornet brand (www.xplornet.com) - is
Canada's largest and fastest growing wireless broadband service provider, with
customers and dealers in every province and territory. BXI's mission is to
bridge the urban/rural digital divide, ensuring that every rural Canadian has
access to fast, affordable and reliable broadband services, regardless of
where they live, work, or play. BXI has worked with Motorola to complete in
excess of 200 wireless broadband deployments across rural Canada, reaching 300
rural communities and covering 350,000 homes and businesses. In addition to
its extensive wireless broadband coverage, it has also partnered with Telesat
Canada to deliver high-speed Internet access using satellite technology
everywhere in Canada.

    Hughes (www.hughes.com) is the global leader in providing broadband
satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small
businesses, and consumers. HughesNet(R) encompasses all broadband solutions
and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and
terrestrial technologies. Its broadband satellite products are based on global
standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU standards organizations, including
IPoS, RSM-A and GMR-1. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 1.5 million
systems to customers in over 100 countries.
    Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA,
Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:   HUGH). For additional
information, please visit www.hughes.com.

    Hughes, HughesNet and Spaceway are trademarks of Hughes Network Systems,
LLC.

For further information:

For further information: To schedule an interview with John Maduri, or
for more information on rural broadband, contact: Morten Paulsen,
Fleishman-Hillard Canada, (403) 399-3377, morten.paulsen@fleishman.ca