SARANTEL, RADIATES OPTIMISM IN £3.5 MILLION FUNDING ROUND SARANTEL
11 February 2003 - Sarantel Limited

New US regulations require all new mobile (cellular) phones to transmit the caller's location when making emergency (E911) calls and this can be achieved by incorporating a Global Positioning System capability and antenna into the handset. Sarantel's GPS antenna is ideally suited to this application because it works alongside mobile handset antennas without interference, meaning a better chance of the caller being located when calling the emergency services.

Consumers are already buying Sarantel-based products, such as an accessory which clips in to a PDA, transforming it into a GPS-driven navigation system. Sarantel's high efficiency and low interference qualities could be critical to making 3G handsets work better and their batteries last longer. Even PC makers are starting to recognise that a high performance antenna can offer wireless-LAN and Bluetooth users more reliable communications.

Sarantel CEO Barrie Foley said: "The first closing of this crucial funding and our recent major contract demonstrates that in a tough market both investors and users are convinced by our technology. Demand for our products in the US, Asia and Europe is taking off rapidly and more than 1,000 electronic device makers worldwide are interested in our products."

Matt Taylor of VCF Partners adds: "In a chilly market for technology investing Sarantel has done very well to bring two new VC investors on board. For me, a product which makes wireless devices work better and cuts radiation to the user is a winner. Sarantel's products are already selling well and in markets which are very big and growing; that adds up to an attractive proposition for investors.

David Ward of MTI Partners said: "The sophistication of Sarantel's technology will have a lasting impact on mobile phone use. We are keen to support innovative devices of this type, which combine clever technology with an identified and receptive market. With the benefit of the experience of a number of economic cycles, MTI continues to be at the forefront of supporting UK based technology businesses, as it moves into its third decade of investments."

Graham Woolfman, a Director of eTechnology, who is joining the board of Sarantel said:- "We are very pleased to have participated in this financing syndicate, supporting an experienced management team with outstanding proprietary technologies. We are excited by opportunities in the Wireless Communications sector, where we have developed specialist investment focus, and believe that this investment is complimentary to our portfolio."

VCF was an original investor, alongside 3i, in 2000, and ran the current fund raising from new investors. It has also been closely involved in setting the company's strategy and keeping the management team focused on making it happen. Before the current funding round Sarantel had raised £8 million, including £5.5 million from 3i and £2.5 million from VCF, who bought out 3i in September 2002.

The ruling from the US Federal Communications Commission on the 1996 act obliges US cellular network carriers to ensure 95 percent of mobile emergency calls can be located to within 150 metres by 2005. This has been the subject of much debate within the mobile communications industry as to its feasibility.

Whilst other technology using triangulation techniques in conjunction with the cellular base station signals has been developed to provide location fixing via the network itself, there is growing evidence from US mobile operators that they will not meet the accuracy requirements. In this respect the use of GPS for location-based services and E911 position fixing is set to be the technology of choice and the Sarantel contract award goes a long way to backing up this assertion.

The global positioning system relies on 24 US-owned satellites and is capable of defining any position on the surface of the earth to within a few tens of metres.

http://www.sarantel.com

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