Prysmian Group, 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, N.C. facility to expand 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. Prysmian Group continues to experience strong demand in North America for optical fiber in the telecom sector, and is proud to play a lead role as an enabler of the digital transformation across the Country. With these investments, we can continue to meet customer needs in support of 5G development in the U.S. and Canada.” ended Pirondini.

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 R&D center is the only one of its kind, co-located in a joint optical fiber and optical fiber cable manufacturing facility. Products that make Claremont unique as a facility are for example FlexTube™ and ezMicroduct™ cables, with exceptional fiber density designs enabled by bend-insensitive fibers, for which Prysmian Group is the industry leader. Thanks to this, the Telecom BU in North America, led by VP Pat Jacobi, supports the growth of major telecoms carriers in the Country, 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, EVP Telecom BU of Prysmian Group. “These critical infrastructures must be based on a high quality and designed to provide high performance over time so as to be ready for the services of the future like 5G, smart cities, smart transportation, smart homes”.