DIRECTV

In 1994, DIRECTV revolutionized the home entertainment industry when it introduced a pizza-sized dish that could receive more than 100 channels of television. Since that time, DIRECTV^® has more than doubled its channel capacity and grown to serve nearly 10 million customers in the United States.

Today, DIRECTV is continuing its tradition of innovation, offering world-class television programming and new advanced services. Through alliances with Wink, TiVo, Microsoft and AOL, DIRECTV provides customers with heightened control over their viewing experience. Customers can choose the ability to access data-enhanced programming, pause live TV, surf the web and so much more—all from the comfort of their own living room. And in 2001, DIRECTV will begin bundling its service with the DIRECWAY™ broadband-by-satellite and Telocity™ Internet access services.

These new capabilities are just the beginning. The cost of digital memory is coming down and functionality is going up, allowing DIRECTV to put the equivalent of a local server right into the home. Add to that the nearly one gigabit per second of digital information that DIRECTV can deliver to virtually every home in the contiguous United States—24 hours a day, seven days a week. Now that’s broadband!

DIRECTV. It’s the future of television, of broadband, and of home entertainment.

For more information about DIRECTV or to order service, visit the DIRECTV web site at www.DIRECTV.com.

DIRECTV Latin America

Three languages. Five broadcast centers. Twenty-seven countries. It’s DIRECTV Latin America, and it’s changing the face of entertainment for an entire continent.

Since initiating its service in 1996, DIRECTV Latin America acquired more than 1.3 million customers as of year-end 2000. Its state-of-the-art infrastructure provides more than 300 channels of entertainment—broadcast simultaneously in Portuguese, Spanish and English—to virtually all of Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean. It is the only provider of multi-channel pay television in the region to have such an expansive reach.

A partnership of HUGHES and Darlene Investments, LLC (an affiliate of the Cisneros Group of Companies), DIRECTV Latin America generated record subscriber and revenue growth in 2000. DIRECTV Latin America added 501,000 net customers, a 57-percent increase over the number added in 1999, and generated more than $541 million in revenue, a 72-percent increase over 1999.

DIRECTV Latin America is continuing to offer unique and compelling entertainment to attract and retain customers. New interactive services, which include weather, games and banking applications, were initiated in Brazil in 2000 and are being rolled out throughout the region.

In addition, DIRECTV Latin America has exclusive rights to the FIFA World Cup™ competitions for 2002 and 2006. Considered the most-watched sporting event in the world, the FIFA World Cup competitions offer not only a powerful subscriber acquisition tool, but also a source of incremental revenue through pay-per-view sales and, more significantly, the re-sale of broadcast rights to other entertainment providers in the region.

In 2001, DIRECTV Latin America is striving to continue its substantial subscriber growth and to improve every level of the customer experience—from sales and installation to billing and programming—as it pursues its goal of becoming the number-one multi-channel pay television provider in the region, by any measure.

For more information on DIRECTV Latin America, visit the DIRECTV Latin America web site at www.directvla.com.

DIRECTV INTERACTIVE™ Powered by Wink^® provides a solid foundation as DIRECTV moves forward in a variety of interactive services. It is becoming the new baseline for the standard DIRECTV System as it is now integrated into all new RCA-brand basic receivers, and will ultimately be contained in all basic DIRECTV™ Receivers.

DIRECTV INTERACTIVE Powered by Wink allows customers to do more than just watch television—they can interact with it. DIRECTV INTERACTIVE provides sports scores, stock quotes, news headlines, weather forecasts and other valuable and entertaining program-related information. Customers can also order free product samples, request coupons from commercials and shop for merchandise—all with the press of a button on the remote control. DIRECTV INTERACTIVE Powered by Wink is available at no additional cost to all customers who have a DIRECTV INTERACTIVE-enabled receiver.

At year-end 2000, nearly two million customers were enjoying enhanced television on ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX, NBC, Oxygen, Showtime, TBS, TechTV, TNT, USA and The Weather Channel. Bloomberg launched in April 2001, and Court TV, Discovery, Do It Yourself Network (DIY), Food Network, HBO, HGTV, Lifetime, SCI FI Channel, TLC and ValueVision are scheduled to launch later in the year.

These customers also have access to new “virtual channels.” DIRECTV is currently offering the “Instant Weather” virtual channel from The Weather Channel and will be adding Barnes & Noble, ESPN and NBC channels later in 2001. These channels expand the revenue-generating opportunities for DIRECTV through T-commerce (for television commerce).

In 2001, more manufacturers, including Hughes Network Systems, Panasonic, Philips, and Samsung, will be building the DIRECTV INTERACTIVE-enabled DIRECTV Receivers. As a result, HUGHES expects four to five million receivers with DIRECTV INTERACTIVE Powered by Wink will be in use by the end of 2001.

For more information about DIRECTV INTERACTIVE Powered by Wink, visit the DIRECTV web site at www.DIRECTV.com or the Wink web site at www.wink.com.

With the TiVo^® personalized television service, DIRECTV takes home entertainment to a whole new level. Customers who choose the DIRECTV™ Receiver with TiVo service essentially have a hard drive sitting on their television. This gives them the ability to actually pause live television. They can then create their own instant replays, watch the action in slow motion, rewind the program, and then fast forward until they are back in sync with the live broadcast.

With its large-capacity hard drive, TiVo can record up to 35 hours of programming, depending on the type of programming recorded. Customers can use this ability to decide not only what they want to watch, but when to watch it. The TiVo Season Pass™ allows customers to record every episode of their favorite show with the click of a button—even if they don’t know what day or time the show is airing.

TiVo will also search out and record programs with specially selected attributes—such as a specific actor or director—or make recommendations based on the type of programming a customer usually watches. Customers can even create their own specialized “networks,” such as a “kids’ network” containing only shows that they have approved for their children to watch. And like DIRECTV, it’s digital, so the quality is unbeatable.

As of the first quarter of 2001, manufacturers for the DIRECTV Receiver with TiVo included Philips, Sony and Hughes Network Systems.

For more information about the DIRECTV Receiver with TiVo, visit the DIRECTV web site at www.DIRECTV.com or the TiVo web site at www.tivo.com.

It’s a personal video recorder, a link to the Internet and, of course, a source for the complete range of DIRECTV^® programming. It’s the DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV^® service.

A service of Microsoft Corporation, UltimateTV is currently available exclusively with DIRECTV. It provides up to 35 hours of digital recording, depending on the type of programming recorded. This allows customers to pause, instantly replay, rewind, slo-mo and play back a live DIRECTV broadcast. UltimateTV is also the first—and currently the only—service to offer dual tuners and Picture-in-Picture, so customers can watch and record two live programs at the same time.

UltimateTV features the exclusive WebPIP™ technology, enabling customers to surf the Web and check e-mail at the same time they are watching TV.

Of course, there is also access to interactive television—more than 500 hours every week. Customers can get up-to-the-minute information on the latest news stories and sporting events, or even play along with popular game shows.

The DIRECTV Receiver with UltimateTV is currently manufactured under the Sony and RCA brand names.

For more information about the DIRECTV Receiver with UltimateTV, visit the DIRECTV web site at www.DIRECTV.com or the UltimateTV web site at www.ultimatetv.com.

It’s top-quality, broadband Internet access from DIRECTV Broadband, Inc. And it’s soon to be available in a package with DIRECTV^® entertainment. It’s Telocity™, the best in high-velocity DSL Internet service.

Having high-speed Internet service available along with its top-quality television entertainment allows DIRECTV to attract higher-quality subscribers who are more likely to stay with the service for a longer period of time. Telocity customers can surf the Net up to 50 times faster than traditional dial-up users, and their connections are “always-on.”

With the DIRECTV Broadband residential gateway, customers can self-install their DSL service and access a broad range of services, including up to five e-mail accounts, fast access to multimedia content, and enough storage space to host their own website.

But that’s just the beginning. The residential gateways also contain new hardware and software features that enable future applications, including home networking, enhanced firewall security features, voice-enabled services, home automation and remote control of residential electronics, and much more.

While DIRECTV Broadband currently provides high-speed broadband services through DSL technology, the residential gateway can be configured to support all major residential broadband access technologies, including cable and wireless. Thus, DIRECTV envisions one day providing a single, integrated appliance that can provide both DIRECTV programming and Telocity DSL services.

The DIRECTV Broadband footprint covers more than 150 major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) across the United States, representing approximately 40 percent of U.S. households. As of year-end 2000, Telocity had approximately 48,000 customers.

For more information about high-speed Internet services, visit the DIRECTV web site at www.DIRECTV.com, or the DIRECTV Broadband web sites at www.directvbroadband.net or www.telocity.com.

DIRECWAY

For choice and freedom that’s out of this world, businesses, consumers and small office/home office (SOHO) users turn to DIRECWAY™ broadband by satellite. You can even get one dish to provide both DIRECWAY and DIRECTV!

DIRECWAY: Enterprise Services

A network is only as valuable as the service it provides. That’s why Hughes Network Systems (HNS) is expanding the capabilities of private business networks by adding DIRECWAY broadband enterprise services.

For decades, HNS has used very small aperture terminal (VSAT) systems to meet the networking needs of major corporations, telecommunications service providers and governments around the globe. These scalable networks provide rapid, cost-effective, reliable transmission of data, voice and video to an unlimited number of sites. Today, HNS holds a more than 60 percent market share in the VSAT business.

With DIRECWAY, HNS is providing new services that enhance the value of new or existing networks and provide HNS and its customers with the opportunity to expand into new markets.

For example, improved technology allows HNS and its customers to leverage IP (Internet Protocol) communications, enabling the network to support broadband Internet access, intranet services and multicasting in addition to traditional VSAT services, such as inventory tracking, credit card verification, multimedia image transfer and LAN (local area network) internetworking.

DIRECWAY services allow customers to automate functions that were previously managed on a site-by-site basis, enabling faster transaction time, increasing network availability and improving performance. For customers, this translates into improved operating costs, increased services and strategic marketing advantages.

For example, by using DIRECWAY Internet Access and Caching Services, enterprises can reduce bandwidth requirements by as much as 50 percent, while dramatically increasing performance.

Also, in many stores and restaurants, managers spend valuable time operating and maintaining the in-store music system. With DIRECWAY Music Services, companies can provide a single, customizable solution for their many locations. Programming that is tailored by store, region and time of day is delivered directly to each location. Customized playlists and marketing messages enable companies to create the right atmosphere to influence how long customers stay, shape their buying decisions, encourage repeat visits and increase sales opportunities. And because DIRECWAY Music Services are provided automatically through the network, on-site personnel are free to focus on their primary job—customer service.

HNS is also exploring using its satellite networks to distribute micro-advertising to gas station pumps and other retail points of sale. In gas stations, these ads typically run about 12 seconds, encouraging buyers to visit the station’s convenience store. Tests in Europe generated a 10- to 20-percent per store increase in sales.

As technology advances and equipment prices decline, HNS is expanding its unique mix of services to current customers, and pushing into new markets. Already the company has made in-roads into the restaurant industry, as well as expanding its strongholds in retail and petroleum. Customer service is the key, and customer service is what DIRECWAY is all about.

DIRECWAY: Consumer & SOHO Services

In just five years, HNS introduced and established DirecPC^® as the leading satellite-based Internet access system in the United States. Building on this success and on the company’s expertise in delivering broadband enterprise services worldwide, HNS is now launching the next-generation DIRECWAY broadband satellite services to the consumer and SOHO markets. Customers can choose from either dial return, which requires a phone line connection for uploads, or from the new family of two-way DIRECWAY broadband services via satellite. Both deliver Internet access at turbo speeds.

Because it is satellite-based, DIRECWAY/DirecPC provides broadband Internet access virtually anywhere in the contiguous United States. All you need is a PC and a clear view of the southern sky. Both systems feature satellite antennas under one meter in diameter and terminals that connect to your PC through a standard USB port.

The two-way DIRECWAY service eliminates the need for a telephone line return path. It delivers Internet access about eight times faster than a 56K modem connection, with download speeds of up to 400 Kbps and upload speeds reaching 256 Kbps.

DIRECWAY sets the standard for broadband-by-satellite service in urban, rural and remote locations. It offers the ultimate freedom from the limitations of cable and wire connectivity.

HNS broadband satellite services are marketed through HNS’ “Powered By” partners, which today include AOL, Earthlink, DIRECTV, Pegasus and Juno. These companies represent access to a combined base of more than 45 million existing subscribers to digital television and Internet services.

In October 2000, AOL PLUS Powered By DirecPC^® became the first “Powered By” service to enter the market. It currently uses the dial return DirecPC system. Earthlink and Pegasus began initial marketing of their broadband Internet services in early 2001, both offering two-way satellite access.

As of year-end 2000, HNS had approximately 50,000 consumer customers in the United States.

DirecDuo: The Best of Both Worlds

Want the best in satellite television entertainment? Want broadband Internet? Want both? DirecDuo™ is your answer.

Using a single satellite antenna, DirecDuo provides world-class DIRECTV^® entertainment to your television together with DIRECWAY broadband Internet access to your PC. It’s available in both dial return and two-way DIRECWAY configurations.

For more information on DIRECWAY services for the enterprise, consumer or SOHO markets, visit the HNS web site at www.hns.com.

What are you planning to watch on TV tonight? “The Sopranos^®”? “ESPN SportsCenter^®”? There’s a good chance you’ll be watching a program that traveled through a PanAmSat satellite.

Through the sale and lease of their transponders—the part of the satellite that receives a signal from Earth, amplifies it, and then re-transmits it—PanAmSat satellites have become indispensable distribution links for literally hundreds of television programmers worldwide. In fact, PanAmSat is the world’s leading provider of commercial satellite services to the television industry.

Because of their ubiquitous signals, satellites are the most efficient and cost-effective way to distribute a video or data signal from one location to thousands of receive sites simultaneously. In the United States, for example, top cable companies and broadcasters use PanAmSat satellites to transmit their signals to the country’s nearly 11,000 cable head-ends.

PanAmSat’s customer list is the envy of the industry—ABC, A&E, CNN, Disney, Discovery Channel, HBO, ESPN, USA, The Weather Channel, and many more. And that’s just in the television market.

PanAmSat is equally active internationally, providing full-time domestic, regional and international programming distribution services to dozens of broadcasters, including non-U.S. companies such as the BBC, China Central Television, India’s Doordarshan and Japan’s NHK. In addition, PanAmSat satellites enable U.S. programmers such as ESPN, Discovery, Disney and HBO to reach targeted audiences around the world.

PanAmSat’s fleet of 20 satellites circles the globe in geostationary orbit, approximately 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the Earth’s equator. In addition to cable and broadcast television distribution, they are used for corporate data networks, business television, satellite news gathering, distance learning, and special event broadcasts. They also provide a critical link to the U.S. Internet backbone for Internet service providers (ISPs) around the globe.

In addition, PanAmSat’s satellite transponders are leased or sold to direct-to-home (DTH) television providers. The PanAmSat global system today transmits more than 530 DTH television and audio channels worldwide, and serves as a platform for current and planned DTH television services in Australia, the Americas, South Africa and Taiwan.

For more information about PanAmSat’s services, visit the PanAmSat web site at www.panamsat.com.

The Internet today is a dynamic, entertaining and innovative experience—if you can get to it. Few users have been spared the frustration of visiting the latest and most exciting web site, only to run headlong into a logjam of stuttering video as congestion on the Net interrupts transmission.

With NET-36™, that frustration can be a thing of the past. Using the power of PanAmSat’s global fleet of satellites, NET-36 enables content producers to broadcast streaming media to cable head-ends, digital subscriber line (DSL) providers, Internet service providers (ISP) and broadband wireless providers in much the same way that their traditional video content is distributed today.

Because NET-36 offers an overlay to the terrestrial network, it can bypass terrestrial congestion and bring high-quality, high-bandwidth entertainment to the edge of the Net—with the same fidelity that the content had at the site of origin. It’s full-motion, hi-fidelity entertainment.

A worldwide satellite-based Internet broadcast network, NET-36 leverages PanAmSat’s decades-long relationships with content producers, including ABC, Disney, ESPN and Bloomberg Television. It uses existing capacity on PanAmSat’s global fleet, thereby creating a new revenue-generating service without cutting into the growth of PanAmSat’s core business.

Because it is satellite-based, the network is totally scalable and can be quickly and easily built out according to customer demand. NET-36 connects to the end-user through partnerships with multiple last-mile service providers. Current partners Qwest, Bell South, Excite@Home and DIRECWAY™/DirecPC^® offer access to more than three million Internet users combined.

While streaming video is the first service focus for NET-36, its infrastructure can support a variety of other applications. Today, NET-36 offers content providers the ability to expand their audiences through the webcast of live special events, especially those targeted at niche audiences too small to warrant a whole television channel. NET-36 also enables video on demand, allowing content providers to “push” entertainment to consumers’ hard drives for later viewing. Finally NET-36 can use the interactive nature of the Internet to enhance existing TV channels—such as home shopping applications—which can increase value by empowering consumers to order online.

For more information, visit the NET-36 web site at www.net-36.com.