Bookham Completes Ottawa Fab Transfer

OXFORDSHIRE, England, Sept. 12 -- Bookham Technology plc, a provider of optical components, modules and subsystems for fiber optic communication networks, announced it has consolidated its wafer fab facility in Ottawa, Canada, into its Caswell, England, facility as part of its cost reduction plans. As a result of this restructuring, the Ottawa fab has completed building its chip inventory, the company said.

Bookham said approximately 75 percent of the 200 employees at the Ottawa facility have left the company, and the rest are expected to "transition out" as they gradually complete fab shutdown duties by the end of the year. The company has about 70 research and development and customer support employees in a nearby facility in Kanata.

In 2002, Bookham acquired the optical components businesses of Nortel Networks and Marconi; in 2003 it acquired Cierra Photonics Inc., a company specializing in thin-film filters. Based in Milton Abingdon, England, Bookham has manufacturing sites in the UK, US, Canada and Switzerland.

For more information, visit: www.bookham.com