The SD-WAN marketplace is a crowded one. But Hughes Network Systems says it brings unique expertise and proven technology to the table. And that, Jeff Bradbury says, sets it apart from the crowd.

Bradbury is senior marketing director of the Hughes North America Division. He, and Bill Rumancik, spoke with us at ITEXPO/SD-WAN Expo.

These events are taking place this week at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale. Rumancik, senior director of enterprise solutions, was an “Assuring SD-WAN Services to Deliver a Superior Customer Experience” panelist.

SD-WAN is a gamechanger in that it enables businesses to use multiple lines at the same time, said Bradbury. And Hughes, which has a strong history in the WAN optimization space, has developed its own SD-WAN technology, he said. (Rumancik added that Hughes will also outfit its customers with other vendors’ technology – like Cisco Meraki – in some cases.)

When people think Hughes, they probably most often think of it as a satellite company. But in reality, Hughes is a networking company – and it has been for a long time, he said. Its networking technology just happened to sit on a satellite at first, he added.

Today Hughes, which says it’s the third largest IP VPN company, provides a range of WAN optimization solutions. One of those WAN optimization solutions is its SD-WAN offering, which is called Active Path.

The company launched Active Path a year ago last month. Active Path does QoS, classification and other broadband optimization. It also provides security via a partnership Hughes has with Fortinet.

Hughes caters to large, distributed businesses including department stores, gas stations, and restaurants. One financial services company with 1,600 locations has deployed Active Path. This solution supports 1.7-2 million VoIP calls weekly. And, Bradbury and Rumancik said, Active Path delivers some impressive mean opinion scores.