Frontier Silicon appoints former Agere CEO

The move will further help the company to maintain its market position in broadcast mobile digital TV and digital audio. "I am delighted to welcome John to the board," said Mike McTighe, Chairman of Frontier Silicon. "His extensive experience in the semiconductor sector with blue chip and start up companies in the UK, France and America, will be of great benefit to Frontier as we enter the next stage of our development." Commenting on his appointment, John Dickson said, "With its portfolio of leading-edge solutions for the emerging mobile TV market and its dominant position in the digital audio space, Frontier is a very exciting company to be a part of. Coupling this with the £16m injection of funding that has been recently secured puts Frontier in a very strong position to make a big impact over the coming few years and I hope to make a significant contribution to this." After moving from the UK to the US in 1991, John became CEO of Headland Technology, the $100 million graphics and PC chip unit of LSI Logic, before becoming chairman and CEO of start-up company, SHOgraphics, Inc.. He joined AT&T in 1993 to head the Integrated Circuits business. After the spin-off of Lucent Technologies he ultimately became EVP and CEO of that company's Microelectronics and Communications Technologies Group. His most recent appointment was as president and CEO of Agere Systems in 2000, which he held until October 2005. Prior to his US move, John worked for ICL in the UK where he became chief operating officer, responsible for product marketing, design, development, manufacturing, logistics and government relations. In 1990, the Institute of Electrical Engineers awarded him the prestigious Mensforth Medal for his "outstanding contribution to UK industry". He also worked for Texas Instruments for 14 years, where he held various management positions in its semiconductor and consumer products divisions in the UK and France.