Optical fiber and material technologies pioneer Corning Incorporated (Corning, NY; NYSE: GLW) formally opened a new fiber-optic cable manufacturing facility in Newton, NC, in the latest expansion of its Optical Communications business to meet growing worldwide demand for its optical fiber and cable.
The facility, which will employ more than 200 people, is part of Corning's previously announced plan to invest more than $250 million in its optical fiber, cable, and solutions manufacturing facilities. In North Carolina, Corning is expanding its fiber manufacturing facility near Concord and its cable facilities in Winston-Salem and Hickory, in addition to opening the Newton plant.
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By adding manufacturing capacity, Corning will help ensure reliable supply for its customers as it addresses growing demand for optical fiber and cable. The demand stems from the worldwide growth in bandwidth requirements as the number of connected devices increases dramatically.
"Network operators around the world are challenged to meet exploding demand for high-speed connectivity and data storage," said Clark S. Kinlin, executive VP, Corning Optical Communications. "We are adding this cable capacity to help ensure reliable supply of the world's highest performing optical cable in a growing market. This world-class facility was commissioned in record time, a feat that would not have been possible without our long-serving Catawba County employees, or the support of state and local leaders here in North Carolina."
Corning invented the first low-loss optical fiber in 1970, which helped launch the age of optical communications and ultimately transformed the way the world creates, shares, and consumes information. Since that time, Corning has delivered more than 1 billion kilometers of optical fiber for networks across the globe.
Corning's investments in manufacturing flow from its plan to maintain its market-leading position and achieve its goal of $5 billion in Optical Communications annual sales by 2020.
