ELECTRONICS firm Filtronic is to create more jobs in County Durham as it prepares to supply the next generation of mobile phone infrastructure.

The company, whose management and staff are predominantly based at Heighington Lane Business Park, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, yesterday made a formal offer for wireless infrastructure business Isotek, in a deal worth £11m in cash and shares.

The acquisition of the Leeds-based firm, started by former Filtronic employees, would give the company a stronger foothold in the base station market for fourth generation mobile phones. Base stations link phones with their network, while fourth generation (4G) networks are expected to provide download speeds ten times quicker than the fastest 3G networks.

Filtronic, which employs 130 staff in Newton Aycliffe, announced its intention to buy Isotek in July.

Isotek, which develops microwave filters for base stations, was founded by Filtronic staff, who left the firm when it sold the majority of its wireless infrastructure firm to Powerwave Technologies in 2006.

The acquisition is expected to increase Filtronics’ turnover in the year to May 2012 by about £15m.

Filtronic chief executive Dr Hemant Mardia said he also expected jobs to be created.

He said: “Like most businesses, we have been through a tough time, but we are now able to look forward and are in the process of recruiting and will need to recruit in line with business growth.”

As part of the Powerwave deal, Filtronic agreed not to compete with the wireless infrastructure business it had sold, for three years.

Although free to re-enter that market, following the expiry of the covenant, Dr Mardia said the firm was not going back to what it did before.

He said: “We are now at the beginning of the fourth generation of mobile networks that create a different problem for network operators infrastructure that had not existed before and these products service that problem.”

If all goes to plan, Filtronic expects to complete the deal by November 16.