OBJ TV INTERVIEW: JUNE 07, 2001 SIGPRO CEO Outlines Strategy Dr. Murthy: We started about a year ago. We started in my basement. Six months later, we got good funding from leading Venture Capitalists in the Ottawa region. We also got offers from U.S. firms but we chose the Ottawa VCs and we are now about 45 people and marching ahead very well. Interviewer: You chose wireless. Obviously, you must think that there is a considerable potential market in the wireless area. Dr. Murthy: Absolutely. I think that in all of the telecommunication and information technology areas combined, wireless is the best field in terms of market growth. This is because wireless is seeing the convergence of the communication market and the Internet market. The Internet is now going mobile. Blackberry is an example of that. The wireless Service Providers are relying on Internet access for business expansion and Internet Service Providers are reaching out to the mobile segment. The wireless Internet is perhaps the biggest market compared to the communication and computer industry combined. Interviewer: So, there is a huge convergence of these things coming together. You seem to have the right timing. Dr. Murthy: It's the right time and it is also the right convergence simply because it's not the convergence of technologies, it's the convergence of multiple applications to the end-user and we are making the critical enabling technology. Interviewer: Right. That's the chip set that you are working on at the moment. Dr. Murthy: Yes. We call it the Centium chip. Interviewer: What is unique about this chip? How will it be used? Dr. Murthy: Well, this chipset has a huge flexible architecture so that it can support multiple standards, multiple data rates and multiple applications. For example, when it is properly configured, it will support a wide range of personal communication devices, services such as communication, information, navigation, computation and entertainment that will allow the end-user to access these services anywhere, anytime. Interviewer: Would these services be accessible in one device or in different devices? Dr. Murthy: That's a good question. The device they're making is basically a carrier of information from the handset to the base station and then back. So, it can carry information such as e-mail, web content, voice, video or audio. So we are making a chipset that will have the ability to carry from 20 kilobits up to 2000 kilobits per second of information of any kind. Interviewer: The market people could be the manufacturers of those devices, obviously. Dr. Murthy: Yes. These are the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) such as cellphone, e-mail and GPS device manufacturers. Interviewer: What efforts are you making at the moment to market the product? Dr. Murthy: Presently, we're focusing on R&D. Our strategy is to first have a full grasp on the technology because we are making a very powerful chip with 5 million gates. We want to get a good handle on technology first so that we do not lose our lead by making a premature announcement in the market place... there are big players who could compete. That being said, we are now a few months ahead and we have beefed up our marketing activities. Interviewer: So, you are ready to go heavily into the marketing stage at this point. Dr. Murthy: Absolutely. Interviewer: You are also looking to hire considerably more people in the next 18 months or so. Dr. Murthy: Yes, that's our plan. We have 45 people working right now. We are expecting to have 65 by the end of this year. We hope that with the second round of financing, we will be able to employ 150 by the end of next year, if not more. Interviewer: Are you talking to potential investors at this point about the next round? Dr. Murthy: We're getting ready to talk. Because we are focusing now on the FPGA to provide proof of concept. We are preparing the marketing materials so that we can meet with and present to these people. We are prepared to solicit money but we are still in a good spot for a year. We are being very prudent to seek that funding as late as possible. Interviewer: In terms of the new hires that you are looking at, are there any particular skills that you are looking for? Dr. Murthy: We are looking for four major skill sets. Electrical and computer engineers who are specializing in ASIC design, software and wireless systems, and digital signal processing. These are the four major technical areas that we are looking for. We are also looking for those with foundry and integration testing backgrounds. In the marketing and business development areas, we are looking for sales, communications, product management and so on. We are growing in all departments. Interviewer: So, anybody looking for a challenge. Dr. Murthy: Anybody looking for a challenge. It is a challenge and I am proud of the people that I have. They are top notch people. Some of them even had five offers and they still chose to join us because they believe in our vision. Interviewer: Well. Thank you very much for coming and telling us about it. I appreciate it very much. Dr. Murthy: Thanks for the opportunity and I really appreciate it. Interviewer: Dr. Sundara Murthy is the president of Ottawa's SIGPRO Wireless.