I think the key to Hughes expanding their business is lowering their price. Right now, they aren't price competitive with cable, FIOS, DSL, or 3G cards, by and large. That means their target demographic is basically people who live in very rural areas who can't get Internet (other than dial-up) any other way, and who can afford to shell out extra for it.
With a better price, though, I could see their business really taking off. When people who were previously going with cable for their TV and Internet "cut the cord" and switch over to Dish Network or whatever for television, it's a natural for them to also say "Oh yeah, put in a dish for the Internet, too" if the price is right. Maybe they could bundle it with Dish television service at a discount the way cable companies bundle their television and Internet together.
If the price were right, I'd be in the market for something like this. I can't afford to pay the cable company an extra "No television fee" (Nor am I willing to, just on principle), I've had major issues with the local phone company in the past and won't deal with them for DSL, and the 3G card I use is pretty slow and throttled after a certain point. If I could log into my Dish Network account online and click a box to get Hughes at $30-$40 a month with speeds fast enough to support Netflix streaming well, I'd probably do it in a heartbeat. It all comes down to price, though -- HughesNet prices as they stand are way out of my price range and unacceptably high relative to their competitors.
