Expansion of Fiber Manufacturing Operations:
Lucent Technologies Announces Plans to Expand Its Specialty Fiber Manufacturing Operations
AVON, Conn., Sep 5, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU chart, msgs) today announced plans to expand its specialty fiber optics manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Denmark to keep pace with the rapidly growing market for specialty fiber around the world.
Lucent said it is committing significant new resources to specialty fibers, undertaking a $9 million expansion program at its facilities in Avon, Conn., and Somerset, N.J., in addition to the $110 million construction program recently announced at its fiber optic manufacturing operation in Brondby, Denmark.
As part of the expansion, Lucent will add nearly 100 jobs in Somerset and 100 jobs in Avon, with 250 employees being added in Denmark, half of which will focus on the manufacturing of specialty fiber.
"Lucent is widely known for its application fibers such as TrueWave(R) fiber and AllWave(TM) fiber," said Lucent's Ken Walker, vice president, Specialty Fiber, "but specialty fiber is one of the fastest growing segments in the industry. We have dramatically grown this area of our business in the past year and see no signs of slowing demand in the near term."
Lucent's Specialty Fiber Group manufactures short-distance optical fiber, cable and assemblies for telecommunications, medical, and industrial use, as well as erbium-doped fiber, dispersion compensating modules, optical channel monitors and industrial fiber optic communications systems.
Lucent said it has already added some 75,000 sq. ft. of additional manufacturing space at its Somerset facility in the past year. In Avon, a groundbreaking this October will mark the beginning of a 63,000-sq.-ft. addition to the facility. The new addition will include a Class 1000 clean room to support new product development initiatives, with additional clean rooms being added in the near future.
Earlier this year, Lucent said its Specialty Fiber business is developing a new plastic optical fiber. The company plans to sell the new fiber for short-distance specialty fiber applications requiring fiber links shorter than 100 meters.
Lucent is a world leader in the manufacture of optical fibers, specialty fibers, and fiber optic apparatus. The company is currently undertaking a $1 billion expansion program to increase its fiber capacity worldwide. Lucent led the industry in the shift to new application-based fibers with its introduction of TrueWave Fiber in 1993. Lucent's AllWave Fiber was recently named as one of Industry Week Magazine's Technologies of the Year and Lucent's AllWave ADVANTAGE(TM) Solution received the "Infovision Award" from the International Engineering Consortium for best end to end solution.
For more information about Lucent Technologies' Specialty Fiber Group, contact the company at 55 Darling Dr., Avon, CT 06001, call (860) 678-0371, or fax (860) 678-6515. Lucent's Special Fiber business can also be reached via email at sfginfo@lucent.com.
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation communications networks for service providers and enterprises. Backed by the research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such as optical and wireless networks; Internet infrastructure; communications software; communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; Web-based enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and professional network design and consulting services. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at lucent.com. |
