KMI predicts interconnect hardware market will reach $6 billion by 2005
According to fiberoptics-market-research firm KMI Corp. (Newport, RI), the market for single-mode fiberoptic interconnect hardware will expand to $6 billion by 2005. Fueling the recent market growth is a 40% increase in cable installations and a near doubling of transmission-equipment installations. Within this period, demand for single-mode connectors should expand at a 45% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), while multimode connectors will see 19% CAGR. Translated to market value, this growth should yield $2 billion in sales for single- and multimode connectors by 2005, with total market volume approaching 414 million units. As demand grows, KMI expects the unit prices of both types of connectors to drop by 6% to 7% per year.
Lucent Technologies expands optoelectronic-component facilities
Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group (Allentown, PA) plans some $65 million in expansions to office, laboratory, and manufacturing facilities to meet customer demand for components used in high-speed optical-communications networking systems. The expansions are expected to result in 750 new jobs over the next three years, with roughly 250 jobs being accounted for by a new fiber-amplifier facility in Upper Macungie Township, PA. Expansions will also take place in Reading, PA (laser manufacturing), Dallas, TX (dense-wavelength-division-multiplexing thin-film filters), and Matamoros, Mexico (transmitters, receivers, transponders, and fiber amplifiers).
Corning and Level 3 Communications combine R&D efforts
Level 3 Communications Inc. (Broomfield, CO) has entered into a strategic agreement with Corning Inc. (Corning, NY) that closely aligns future fiber technologies from Corning with the ongoing development of Level 3's continuously upgradeable network. Under the terms of the agreement, the two firms will cooperatively research, develop, and deploy new and more cost-effective generations of optical fiber. This agreement also makes Corning the worldwide supplier of optical fiber and cable to Level 3 for at least the next four years, which translates to a commitment by Corning Cable Systems to supply more than 10 million km of additional advanced fiber for future installation in Level 3 intercity and metropolitan networks.
Alcoa acquires fiberoptic product line from Thomas & Betts
Alcoa Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) has acquired all assets relating to the fiberoptic product lines of Thomas & Betts (Memphis, TN) for cash. The sale includes splitters, couplers, cable assemblies, and fiber-management systems for original equipment manufacturers and optical systems suppliers marketed under the Aster brand name. The manufacturing facilities for this product line (Attleboro, MA) will become part of Alcoa Fujikura (Brentwood, TN), one of 25 Alcoa business units.
RIFOCS merges with Datacom-Textron
Textron subsidiary RIFOCS Corp. (Camarillo, CA), which manufactures fiberoptic test instruments and cable assemblies, is merging operations with Textron subsidiary Datacom-Textron (Everett, WA), which manufactures test equipment for copper-based local-area networks. The merger, which will be completed by the end of the year, will transfer Datacom-Textron's operations to the Camarillo plant. According to Dennis Horwitz, RIFOCS vice president of marketing and business development, the merger is driven by the convergence occurring within the telecommunications market; one example is the need for the cabling installation market to support fiber, copper, and even hybrid fiber/coaxial cable architectures.
Also in the news . . .
Melcor Corp. is expanding its Trenton, NJ, manufacturing site to meet growing demands for thermoelectric coolers in the fiberoptic laser diode market. . . . CyOptics (Burlington, MA), which develops optoelectronic transmission components for 40-Gbit/s and ultralong-haul transmission, has raised an additional $57 million in equity financing, bringing the total financing since the firm's inception to $77 million.
Paula Noaker Powell
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