Furukawa Electric to Expand Fiber Optic Cable Production Capacity

Furukawa Electric Company today announced plans to nearly double its 2016 fiber optic manufacturing capacity by 2019 and to also increase its fiber optic cable manufacturing capacity.

Between 2014 and 2016, the company increased its global fiber production capacity by 20% and initially planned to achieve another capacity increase of 20% by 2018. However, in order to meet the strong customer demand for optical fiber and optical fiber cable, the Furukawa Electric board approved $150 million capital spending for further expansion in production, primarily in the U.S. and Europe, through the optical fiber and cable operations of OFS, its wholly owned subsidiary.

“The proliferation of hyper-scale and edge data centers, 5G wireless, and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), along with the greater digitization of communications in business, are creating the need for fiber in the network around the world,” said Timothy F. Murray, head of the Global Optical Fiber and Cable business of Furukawa Electric and CEO of OFS.  “Furukawa Electric is responding with greater capacity as we foresee this demand continuing into the next decade with communication traffic estimated to increase during this period.”