Hughesnet Files Chapter 11, Cuts 400 Jobs as Starlink Drives Subscriber Base Below 622,000
Updated
Updated · PCMag · Aug 3
Hughesnet Files Chapter 11, Cuts 400 Jobs as Starlink Drives Subscriber Base Below 622,000
3 articles · Updated · PCMag · Aug 3
Summary
Hughes Network Systems sought Chapter 11 protection on Sunday and said it will keep serving satellite internet customers while it restructures under court supervision.
400 layoffs were disclosed in court filings from a workforce of 1,275, after Hughes said cash was running low and subscriber losses to Starlink were unlikely to reverse.
622,000 broadband subscribers remained at EchoStar at the end of Q2, down 59,000 in the quarter and more than half below Hughesnet's base before Starlink's 2020 US beta launch.
EchoStar is steering Hughes away from consumer broadband toward enterprise, government and defense work, while COO Paul Gaske stepped down and FTI's Robert Del Genio became chief restructuring officer.
The filing follows Hughes' failure to meet $1.5 billion in maturing debt and underscores how low-Earth-orbit rivals have structurally undercut geostationary satellite internet providers.