Prysmian Group Investing to Support Broadband Development and 5G in North America

Prysmian Group, the world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, announced today it is investing $85 million in major equipment and technology upgrades at plants in North America, enabling the company to meet growing production needs for telecom customers.

Most of these investments and upgrades will take place at the Prysmian Group Claremont, North Carolina facility to expand the production of optical products. Additionally, the Claremont facility is expected to grow to 620 employees in the next 18 months, adding up to 70 new jobs.

“Prysmian Group is committed to support the growth necessary to expand access to high-speed broadband in North America,” said Andrea Pirondini, Chief Executive Officer of Prysmian Group North America. “The U.S. Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and the Canadian Universal Broadband Fund will also help build local economies and provide access to healthcare services and education opportunities. As we continue to experience strong demand for optical fiber in the region, we are proud to play a leading role as an enabler for digital transformation across North America. With these investments, we can continue to meet customer needs in support of 5G development in the U.S. and Canada.”

With a strong legacy in manufacturing optical fiber and cable for a broad range of applications, the Group has four telecom production sites in the United States. In particular, the Claremont Research and Development Center is the only one of its kind, co-located in a joint optical fiber and optical fiber cable manufacturing facility. Products such as the FlexTube™ and ezMicroduct™ are uniquely manufactured at the Claremont facility, offering exceptional fiber density designs enabled by bend-insensitive fibers, for which Prysmian Group is the industry leader. Thanks to this, the Telecom Business Unit in North America, led by Vice President of Telecom for Prysmian Group North America, Patrick Jacobi, supports the growth of major telecom carriers across the U.S. and Canada, thus continuing its tradition as global leader in technology development for new, reliable and efficient broadband networks, providing valuable new capacity and options for telecom network operators.

“North America is a strategic market for our Group, and these investments are inserted into a global plan to increase our capacity to support the digital transformation with innovative products, going through the development of new ultra-broadband fiber optic telecommunication networks,” added Philippe Vanhille, Executive Vice President for Telecom Business Unit of Prysmian Group. These critical infrastructures must be high quality and designed to provide strong performance over time in order to be ready for the services of the future like 5G, smart cities, smart transportation and smart homes.”