Germantown satellite services company Hughes Network Systems has landed a contract to provide broadband service to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, executives said this week.

The company will provide the service to about 300 offices and inspection sites. The one-year contract is worth $980,000.

The contract helps the company’s growing effort to provide service to the federal government, said Tony Bardo, assistant vice president for Hughes Government Solutions.

By being able to provide broadband where it is needed without using more expensive dedicated T1 lines, the company will be able to provide service at a lower price to the federal government, Bardo said.

The food safety inspectors also will have increased bandwidth to use technologies.

In addition, with the increased bandwidth available, the federal agency will be able to quickly communicate information such as Humane Activity Tracking, Bardo said.

The company has successfully provided business customers with the service, and the federal government — with many outlying offices — is a perfect market for expansion, Bardo said.

“They have had difficulty getting bandwidth to do their job,” Bardo said.

As the federal government looks to cut spending, offering more bandwidth at a lower price should attract more federal agencies to Hughes, he said.

“It’s exciting for us because it’s new business for us,” Bardo said.

cford@gazette.net