EnSilica signs EUR2.5 million deal to supply its broadband chip

(Alliance News) - EnSilica PLC on Wednesday said it secured a new unnamed lead customer for its proprietary satellite broadband chip in a deal worth around EUR2.5 million.

Shares in EnSilica were up 6.8% to 69.96 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

The Abingdon, Oxfordshire-based semiconductor designer and supplier said the contract provides the customer with early access to the satellite broadband chip and an order for EnSilica for the first 50,000 chips.

The customer is a vendor of user terminals for SatCom on-the-Move applications, EnSilica said, using EnSilica chips to address the next generation of mass market satellite broadband user terminals.

The deal follows EnSilica's announcement in February over EUR5 million in funding for the development phase of the satellite broadband chip.

This was provided under the framework of the European Space Agency's 'advanced research in telecommunications systems core competitiveness' programme, EnSilica said, with the support of the UK Space Agency.

EnSilica said the chip will "enable the next generation of low-cost, low-power satellite broadband user terminals".

"This type of component is a key enabler for user terminals operating with low earth orbit satellite systems," the company said.

"User terminals track the relative movement of the satellites, allowing users to access high-capacity connectivity in a very wide range of use cases, including automotive, maritime and aerospace connectivity, as well as connectivity for rural households."

Chief Executive Officer Ian Lankshear said: "With the satellite broadband communications market a key growth driver for our business, we are delighted to have a lead customer adopting our innovative semiconductor solution for their next generation of satellite broadband user terminals.

"Given the high number of chips per antenna, and the millions of users that could adopt these services, the potential growth within this market could be significant for our business across the medium term."

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

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