Cicada Semiconductor Broadens Sales Coverage to Eastern U.S. and Canada with New Sales Rep Agreements for Mixed-Signal Communications Semiconductors.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 2002

Industry's Lowest Power, Highest Performance Communications

Integrated Circuits Increase in Production and Sales

as Company Looks Toward Explosive Growth in 2003

Cicada Semiconductor Corporation, the leading developer of DSP and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) that enable broadband communications within Local, Wide, and Storage Area Networks, announced today that it has added four manufacturers' representative sales organizations to represent its DSP and mixed-signal communications products along the Eastern United States and Canada.

Innovative Applied Solutions (IAS) of Wakefield, Mass.; Southbridge of Madison, Ala.; Avtek Associates of Baltimore, Md., and Electronics Sales Professionals Inc. of Ottawa, Ontario, CA, have all been chosen to sell and distribute Cicada's family of SimpliPHY(tm) Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) over copper transceivers, and its DSP-based T3 Line Interface Unit (LIU) products. Through highly sophisticated digital and analog design techniques, Cicada's products lead the communications industry with high density, low power consumption, and high performance over copper cabling of varying qualities. The company's SimpliPHY transceivers consume less than one watt per port and exhibit the highest performance of any GigE transceiver in the industry, with both its single- and quad-port products in volume production today.

"GigE over Copper enables today's pervasive Ethernet LANs to enjoy a 10X performance boost, and our DSP-based T3 is the only solution of its kind for WAN customers," said Cicada's CEO Nick van Bavel. "These products target markets that will undergo massive growth over the next few years. We have chosen to partner with the best in class sales representatives to promote and support our products in these important geographical areas."

Strong Geographical Presence and Customer Experience

The four organizations selected to represent Cicada products in the Eastern U.S. and Canada have an established presence in their respective geographical regions with impressive line cards from other renowned manufacturers. Their experienced and highly trained sales staff and representatives receive additional technology and applications training and education on an ongoing basis to keep current with industry, market and technology trends.

Innovative Applied Solutions and its sister company Delta-Conn cover the New England states, providing a high level of expertise in the design and specification of semiconductors and other electronic components and systems. As part of the Empire Technology Group, IAS leverages its strong relationship with distributor partners for critical regional saturation.

"We are excited by the demand for and acceptance of Cicada Semiconductor's mixed-signal communications integrated circuits," said Bill Sharpe, President of IAS. "The rare design skill set of Cicada engineers has translated into innovative products that will be a boon to the OEMs, decreasing design-in time and development costs, and resulting in a more robust end product into the marketplace. Cicada products are a welcome addition to our product line card and the revenue prospects for us are exciting."

Southbridge effectively covers the Southeastern region of the U.S., serving Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee; and Avtek completes the Northeastern U.S. coverage with its strong presence in the Mid-Atlantic States, where it has maintained a presence in the private and government sectors since 1988.

ESP of Canada was incorporated in 1992 and includes value-added services such engineering support, customer service and as factory liaison to Canadian OEMs and distributors.

Cicada already has Frontek Electronics Co. Ltd., in place as the sales representatives for the Taiwan and China regions, and is planning to expand into other key regions in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Product Availability

Cicada's CIS8201 single-port and CIS8204 quad-port Gigabit transceivers are both in volume production, and the CIS7516 six-port and CIS7518 eight-port T3/E3 LIUs are sampling with complete evaluation boards and software. Information on these products can be obtained by contacting Patrick Lubinski at [e-mail]; or by going to www.cicada-semi.com/contact_us/sales_contact.htm.

About Cicada Semiconductor

Cicada Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, manufactures, and markets mixed-signal integrated circuits for the communications industry to send information faster and farther over existing copper cabling and system backplanes within Local, Wide and Storage Area Networks. Already recognized among an elite group of world-class digital communications players with a rare combination of digital and analog design experience, Cicada's mission is to be the worldwide leader in the design and development of high performance digital communications ICs. Now in full production with worldwide sales offices, Cicada's current products include two (quad-port and single port) SimpliPHY(tm) Gigabit Ethernet transceivers and the industry's only DSP-based multichannel Line Interface Units (LIUs). For more information, go to www.cicada-semi.com, or call 512/327-3500.