Wendy's Cooks Up Deal With Hughes

Deal gives the burger restauranteer broadband service to 1,200 Wendy's company-owned restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.

by Roy Mark of www.internetnews.com [December 18, 2001]

Wendy's International, Inc., has signed a multi-year contract with Hughes Network Systems (HNS) for the provision of Direcway broadband services to 1,200 Wendy's company-owned restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. The restaurants will use Direcway to support file transfers, remote monitoring, multicast and Intranet access.

The Direcway service will also be equipped to support electronic payment, Web applications, corporate training, and in-restaurant music.

"This is an excellent example of how Direcway enables enterprises with a large number of geographically dispersed locations to support applications such as credit card purchases, file transfers, Intranet/Internet communications, and streaming media. For a food service industry leader like Wendy's, Direcway is a natural fit," HNS' Executive Vice President and General Manager Paul Gaske said.

Consumers anywhere in the continental U.S. can get Direcway Internet service from major providers including EarthLink, AOL, Pegasus, NRTC and DIRECTV. The Germantown, Md.-based Hughes Network Systems, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp., is the world's largest provider of broadband satellite network solutions for businesses and consumers, with approximately 500,000 systems installed in more than 85 countries.

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