HughesNet standoff with VAR's
There is a big standoff underway between HughesNet (formerly DirecWay) and at least two of their long time VAR's - Skycaster's and Optistreams. Both of these VAR's have apparently stopped selling HughesNet products (DW 7000/7700 and earlier models DW 4020 & DW 6000). A letter went out to customers from at least one of these VAR's last week stating basically that service to their customers might be shut off on March 8th.
Well, as of Friday March 10, it hasn't happened.....yet. Is this a high stakes game of chicken, or will Hughes Communications, Inc. flip the switch and put some 3,500 customers in the dark?
Update: As of Friday March 17, no Skycasters customers have been turned off. I learned today that at least some of the accounts will likely be "transitioned" over to HughesNet.
It appears that Skycasters has made some type of deal with Hughes to hand at least some accounts over to them in order to buy some time to figure out a transition that won't totally cut off a large income stream they have enjoyed for several years.
In most of these VAR agreements, non-payment of outstanding bills by the VAR is the most common reason a company like Hughes Communications would threaten to cut service off and take over the accounts themselves. If you have service with Skycasters or Optistreams, I would suggest you develop a game plan to protect your connectivity to the internet.
If you need counsel or actually are cut off, call 866-978-4613 and you can get help from VSAT U.S.
Well, as of Friday March 10, it hasn't happened.....yet. Is this a high stakes game of chicken, or will Hughes Communications, Inc. flip the switch and put some 3,500 customers in the dark?
Update: As of Friday March 17, no Skycasters customers have been turned off. I learned today that at least some of the accounts will likely be "transitioned" over to HughesNet.
It appears that Skycasters has made some type of deal with Hughes to hand at least some accounts over to them in order to buy some time to figure out a transition that won't totally cut off a large income stream they have enjoyed for several years.
In most of these VAR agreements, non-payment of outstanding bills by the VAR is the most common reason a company like Hughes Communications would threaten to cut service off and take over the accounts themselves. If you have service with Skycasters or Optistreams, I would suggest you develop a game plan to protect your connectivity to the internet.
If you need counsel or actually are cut off, call 866-978-4613 and you can get help from VSAT U.S.
posted by Randy Scott at 1:20 PM
