Sarantel Antenna Makes Shortlist of Three for EDN Innovation of the Year Award; Active Surface-Mount Antenna Technology Recognised from a Cast of Thousands of New Devices

WELLINGBOROUGH, England--Feb. 1, 20043, 2004--Antenna specialist Sarantel has been nominated to a short-list of three in the component category of EDN's Innovation of the Year Awards for 2004. EDN's awards program is now in its 14th year and recognises truly outstanding products and services which have been available in the electronics market during the previous year.

EDN is part of the Reed Electronics Group and EDN is the premier design title and on-line network for electronics designers worldwide. All the short listed products are innovative, but, of the thousands that manufacturers announce each year and the hundreds that EDN reports on, less than 50 have been short listed for 13 product awards this year.

Brad Hurte, President of Sarantel USA said, "When we were selected to be one of EDN's 100 hot products at the end of 2003 I thought that was a pretty major achievement. Being short listed for an Innovation of the Year Award, alongside companies like AMD, Analog Devices, ARM and Tektronix, is really very gratifying and the team and I will be canvassing support from customers and partners right up to the deadline."

EDN's technical editors selected the finalists and Sarantel's GeoHelix-S has been selected in the component category. The GeoHelix-S, and active surface-mountable GPS antenna, is part of Sarantel's growing range of miniature antennas for GPS, Wi-Fi and 3G applications. Sarantel's antennas are all based on high-dielectric miniature ceramic cylinders onto which a copper track is etched. Compared with the conventional antennas used in portable wireless products, Sarantel's devices have a much wider beam width, meaning better reception, and make the receivers immune to the de-tuning effects of the user's hands and head.

"We always get an outstanding set of entries to our Innovation program," said EDN Editor-in-Chief Maury Wright. "The chosen finalists should be proud of their selection because many worthy products barely missed the cut. I look forward to meeting with all of the participants at the awards banquet."

In the next few weeks electronics engineers and engineering managers will use an online ballot to select the ultimate winners from among these finalists. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on March 29, 2004 in San Francisco.

Company contacts Sarantel:

US: Brad Hurte, Sarantel Inc., 19243 NE 149th Street, Woodinville, Washington, 98077. Tel: +1 425-861-0463 Email: info-usa@sarantel.com

Asia/Pacific: Joe Murray, Sarantel Pte Ltd, Singapore Tel: +65 6820 8849 Email: info-asia@sarantel.com

UK: Jo Trimarco, Sarantel Ltd, Unit 2, Wendel Point, Ryle Drive, Park Farm South, Wellingborough, NN8 6AQ UK. Tel: +44 (0)1933 670561 Email: info@sarantel.com

Press contact:

Andrew Shephard, EML +44 (0) 20 8408 8000 Email: sarantel@eml.com

About Sarantel

Founded in September 2000, UK-based Sarantel (www.sarantel.com) specialises in miniature antennas that enable portable and mobile wireless devices, including GPS and Wi-Fi, as well as GSM, PCN and PCS mobile telephones. Built on 20 years of research effort, Sarantel Ltd is a privately funded company formed from the management buyout of the Symmetricom Inc. antenna division. The company recently had a first close on its $10m series B funding round. MTI Partners (www.mtifirms.com) led the round, joined by series A investor, VCF Partners (www.vcf.co.uk), and eTechnology VCT (www.etchvct.com).

Sarantel's antennas are based on high-dielectric miniature ceramic cylinders onto which a copper track is etched. Compared with the conventional antennas used in portable wireless products, Sarantel's devices have a much wider beamwidth, meaning better reception, and make the receivers less susceptible to the de-tuning effects of the user's hands and head. The company has pioneered a highly cost-effective automated volume manufacturing process at its Wellingborough, UK, facility. In addition to offering its antennas to OEM manufacturers, Sarantel licenses the design and manufacturing process to high volume manufacturers around the world. www.sarantel.com

About EDN

EDN, the premier design magazine of the electronics industry, is published by Reed Business Information. Headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, EDN serves the vital information needs of design engineers and engineering man-agers worldwide. The EDN franchise includes EDN, EDN Europe, EDN Asia, EDN China, EDN Japan, and EDN.com, the only full-content, EOEM publication and Web site. www.edn.com