Coherent Forms Telecom Group, Expands Facilities

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 2 -- Coherent Inc. has formed a telecom business unit to oversee the company's active and passive telecom product strategies. The telecom unit will draw on technology and resources from the company's semiconductor growth facility in Tampere, Finland, its semiconductor packaging and test center in Santa Clara, Calif., and its optical fabrication and coating plant in Auburn, Calif.
The business unit will be the focal point for all our telecom market developments and investments, said Bernard Couillaud, Coherent's president and CEO. [It] will assume responsibility for the recently announced ComEts, our first telecom product approved for deployment.
Coherent also announced a plan to expand its facility in Auburn, Calif. Construction of an 80,000-square-foot building has been approved, with occupancy expected by year-end. The additional space allows us to consolidate our optical fabrication, coating, and assembly of telecom componentry into a single facility, said John Ambroseo, president of Coherent's Laser and Auburn Groups and executive vice president of Coherent Inc. In addition, we have placed multiple orders for coaters used in the production of dense WDM filters.