Belgium-based Euro-GSM, Eagle's exclusive marketing partner for the Orb' Phone Exchange, placed the initial purchase order as part of its annual commitment to maintain marketing exclusivity. Delivery is scheduled for early 2003. Euro-GSM has extensive contacts in the aviation industry and is the first company to earn certification for low-orbit, satellite-based communications systems on corporate jets.

"This initial sale represents only a fraction of the world's potential market from both the commercial aviation community as well as the military. Every commercial airliner is a candidate for the Exchange since the system's software and hardware are much more effective and substantially less expensive than communication systems currently available to the aviation industry," said Yves Hendrickx, president of Euro-GSM.

"Plus, the enhanced service can be offered to airline passengers at a greatly reduced rate. We estimate the total worldwide sales for the Exchange system could reach thousands of units in the next three to five years."

Commercial aeronautical implications for the Exchange include the ability to provide true "all-passenger," gate-to-gate communications capabilities from inside the aircraft without the possibility of interference to the aviation navigation equipment. Interference issues are nonexistent since Eagle has concentrated its extensive radio frequency experience on the filtering stages of the product.

Military implications for the Exchange include the ability to produce the equivalent of a domestic communications environment in non-line-of-sight situations in any remotely deployed communications center -- anywhere in the world. The U.S. military has just recently extended its commitment to utilize the Iridium System.

"The Exchange's 'total' global communications coverage is possible because our system uses the Iridium Satellite LLC voice and data network -- a constellation of 66 operational low-Earth-orbit satellites deployed on six polar planes," says Dr. H. Dean Cubley, chairman and CEO of Eagle Broadband.

"Each orbit plane has 11 satellites, ensuring that every region on the Earth is covered by at least one satellite at all times. The existing constellation is designed to stay fully active without additional units for at least five years and spare satellites have just been launched by Boeing to ensure full earth coverage and spares until 2011."

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