Loudoun County's leading wireless broadband Internet provider has tapped former Loudoun Business editor David T. Hughes, 58, as the company's director of corporate communications, effective today as it prepares to launch INET Loudoun.

Roadstar Chief Executive Officer Marty Dougherty said in a press release that he is pleased Hughes has joined the team because he shares Roadstar's enthusiasm to make Loudoun County the nationwide example of wireless broadband technology and its' importance to a local economy and business growth . Hughes' duties will be to work closely with not only the media and public, but also with the business community and governmental agencies keeping them updated on Roadstar Internet's constantly expanding network and services.

Dougherty said Hughes would be revealing information within the next few weeks about an exciting new set of services titled "INET Loudoun". This new service and the network being built to deliver them will be the answer Loudoun County businesses, government and institutional users have been seeking to finally be free of old fashioned slow internet connections. Dougherty said, "Getting the entire community behind INET Loudoun is critical in order to get the maximum benefit from this new network. Hiring David will help us to bring together all of the stakeholders."

Roadstar will also be leveraging the very high capacity and reach of the INET Loudoun network to reach even further into Western Loudoun county residential area's using an assortment of access technologies to bring additional remote residential users into the "high speed" world.

Hughes said he is looking to working with his friends in business and government. "I have been an admirer of Roadstar and Marty's entrepreneurial spirit since I first met him in 2002. As a computer and network enthusiast for many years I was amazed how he designed the Roadstar network replacing expensive cabling with low-cost over the air delivery of bandwidth. I also applaud his dedication to providing clients with state of the art technology as it becomes available.

Hughes is bringing his column dealing with the Internet, computers and other high-tech subjects to Roadstar's Web page. The column ran for 10 years in the former Journal newspapers and later in the Washington, DC, Baltimore and San Francisco Examiner newspapers. He will also answer questions related to computer setup and performance problems posed by visitors to the Web page.

Hughes, a 12-year resident of the Herndon area, is married and has a 17-year-old son who attends Oakton High School in Vienna.