If you know the name Eagle Broadband, it's probably from the company's business provider broadband fiber-to-the-home services. Or maybe it's through the part of the company that provides electronic home security services. Or it could be through the Broadband Magic subsidiary that is incorporating Bluetooth, HDTV and other technologies into television set-top boxes. Or perhaps it's from some contact you have had with the League City, Texas, firm's three other subsidiaries.

In any case, multi-talented Eagle Broadband is extending its moniker into something new — satellite-based broadband services for government clients, military branches, Fortune 1000 companies and even private jets.

These services are based on the Orb'Phone Exchange, a non-line-of-sight access system that takes advantage of the coverage provided by the Iridium satellite network and acts as a repeater directing the signal in-building to enterprise users.

“It brings Iridium indoors for voice and short-burst data communications,” said Dave Weisman, CEO of Eagle Broadband.

The Orb'Phone Exchange earned certification to operate on satellite networks from the Federal Communications Commission last fall at just about the same time it was certified by Iridium for use on its network. The line-of-sight limitations of such networks sometimes have been cited in their slow adoption among customers.

Satellite networks have been haunted by financial problems in the past — Iridium went bankrupt and was nearly dissolved before new management surfaced last year to lead a comeback. Weisman said the Orb'Phone Exchange could be developed to work as an in-building repeater system for public network architectures, such as GSM, but he sees satellite access as a niche where Eagle Broadband will encounter relatively little direct competition for now.

“We're trying to establish a beachhead where there isn't one already, and the new Iridium guys have the company figured out,” Weisman said.

However, Eagle Broadband isn't pinning its whole sales strategy on the Iridium relationship. Having settled on government agencies as its primary customer target, Eagle Broadband has signed agreements with two major distribution partners that have government market leverage. General Dynamics signed on last fall, and SAIC came on board a few weeks ago.

“We have a patent here, and we're not going to hide behind it,” Weisman said. “When you're pursuing government clients, there are a lot of inside machinations at work. If you have the info, you're in, but it's not the patent that gets you there, so we need our partners.”

Randy Shapiro, vice president of marketing at Eagle Broadband, said the company is prioritizing the government market niche in part “because of the homeland security funding that is flowing our way. You have local governments that are now making disaster recovery plans and looking for alternate communications.”

Weisman added, “Government customers are often more interested in functionality than price. Still, we didn't want to walk into this market trying to sell it a $100,000 toilet seat.” Weisman said Eagle Broadband will continue to develop multiple form factors so that it can pursue markets such as users of private and chartered planes whose line-of-sight barriers previously kept satellite coverage out.

“We can put one on a lear jet,” Weisman said. “But with all of these markets, the trick for us is finding the partners with the contacts.”