Hughes Network Systems is ranked 4 among the Global Top Twenty operators worldwide on the World Teleport Association’s annual Top Teleport Operator Rankings for 2010.

The World Teleport Association’s (WTA) annual rankings are based on the services, facilities, and business results of the top teleport companies, from independents and niche service providers to multinationals and global hybrid network operators, such as Hughes. The rankings are reported in three categories: Independent Top Twenty; The Fast Twenty; and Global Top Twenty.

“We saw an interesting shift in the Top Operator rankings this year,” said Robert Bell, WTA executive director. “In the Global Top Operator list, 45 percent are independent teleport operators while the other 55 percent are satellite operators that operate their own teleports. We also saw a couple of those satellite operators penetrate the Fast Twenty list for the first time. That’s consistent with many of the findings WTA has published within the last 12 months. Satellite operators are investing in their ground-based business, and as we saw in the Inside the Top Operators of 2009 published last month, several operators expect big increases in teleport and terrestrial revenues but only small increases in revenues from the space segment.”

Teleports are the ground-based side of satellite networks. They are the channel by which satellites are integrated into complex networks involving fiber-optics, microwave, wireless and mobile technologies to extend their reach beyond the edge of the network.