Uk Oil & Gas Regulatory News (UKOG)

31 Aug 2005 12:53

Sarantel Group PLC31 August 2005 For immediate release 31 August 2005 Sarantel Ships Its One-Millionth Antenna • One-Millionth Sarantel GeoHelix(R) antenna shipped to GPS Manufacturer Globalsat • UK plant recently increased capacity to meet surge in global demand for precision GPS antennas • Two-millionth antenna is just around the corner! Sarantel Group plc ("Sarantel"), the leading manufacturer of revolutionaryfiltering antennas for wireless devices, announces today that it has justshipped its one-millionth antenna since the company began manufacturing in 2002.The GeoHelix-SMP GPS antenna went to customer Globalsat Technology Corporationof Taiwan. 'It's a big day for small antennas!' enthused David Wither, Sarantel's CEO. 'Onemillion is a huge milestone. What started as a dream in 2000 to bring theworld's best GPS antennas to market is coming to fruition as our inventionbecomes a commercial success. We're proud to have built a high tech, high volumemanufacturing plant in the UK where we continue to innovate.' Since its IPO, Sarantel has invested heavily in capacity to meet its customers'growing demand. The market for small, portable, and handheld GPS products hasexploded in recent years. ABI Research recently reported a 5-year compoundgrowth rate for Sarantel's addressed markets in excess of 40% per year. Sarantelhas seen much stronger growth in demand as it builds market share andrevolutionises consumer GPS products. Sarantel's high-performance GPS antennas are manufactured in Wellingborough withprecision equipment custom designed by its own manufacturing team led by COO,Bill Taylor. 'Our business has grown more than 400% in the past year, and as aresult we had to completely focus on keeping our operation ahead of the game. Wehave a great team that is constantly challenging themselves to find new ways toincrease throughput and improve the quality of product we ship. I'm very proudof them,' said Taylor. Company founder and CTO Oliver Leisten commented: 'We started with a vision thatwireless was going to be ubiquitous, and that consumers would demand smallerdevices that still perform well. No market has exemplified that vision betterthan GPS, and our technology simply makes GPS work in small devices.' While this sounds pretty basic, conventional GPS antennas have tremendousdifficulty performing well in small products, particularly those held by aperson or that employ multiple radios. Sarantel's PowerHelix(TM) antennatechnology specifically addresses the problems of these types of products, andwith the shipment of the millionth antenna, Sarantel has proven its ability tomanufacture its unique products in high volume. Wither concludes: 'I'm thrilled and incredibly proud of the Sarantel team whoseinnovation, dedication and hard work has brought us this far. Watch for our twomillionth antenna to be shipped in the months to come!' -ends- For further information please contact: Sarantel Group PLC www.sarantel.comDavid Wither, CEO/Sitkow Yeung, CFO 01933 670560Smithfield 020 7360 4900Sara Musgrave/Sarah Richardson Pictures are available for the media to view and download from www.vismedia.co.uk About Sarantel Sarantel designs, manufactures and sells patented, ceramic, filtering antennasfor use in portable wireless devices such as PDAs, laptops and 3G mobiledevices. Its current focus is on producing antennas for the GPS market whichallow a clearer signal than conventional antennas whilst reducing the amount ofenergy absorbed by the head by approximately 90 per cent. The antennas simplifysystem design, thus allowing design standardisation and reduced time to marketand cost for manufacturers. As well as GPS, Sarantel's antennas are designed to service Wi-Fi, 3G andBluetooth platforms which are expected to be a key element in the future successof mobile network operators and device manufacturers. Sarantel's antennas cansignificantly increase the range and effective bandwidth of Wi-Fi devices andSarantel is planning to commence high volume delivery of its antennas into thesatellite radio market within the next 12 months. Sarantel listed on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, on 2ndMarch 2005 at an issue price of 82p. Sarantel is included in the IT Hardwaresector (93) within the Telecommunications equipment sub-sector (938) and has aRIC code of SLG.L This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange