Though you were asking Liz, HughesNet's system has nowhere near the capacity of ground based services. Think a two lane country road vs a twenty lane divided highway. While a few GBs here and there does't have a big impact, unlimited high speed plans would stress the system far too much, causing what would end up being a never ending digital traffic jam. How much traffic is on the system at any given time is regulated, or regulated as best as it can be, by the plans having a set amount of high speed data, which ends up requiring people to prioritize their activities.
Hi trypeace02,
What Gabe explained is correct, and to quote our FAQ: "To ensure fair Internet access for all HughesNet customers, Hughes maintains a special Fair Access Policy that establishes an equitable balance in Internet access for all HughesNet subscribers. Similarly to how cell phone providers manage their data plans, Hughes assigns an amount of Data to each service plan that may be downloaded or uploaded within a one-month period."
-Liz
