GENEVA, Oct. 13 -- To meet growing demand for optoelectronics, Alcatel is expanding its optical component manufacturing capacity by doubling its facility in Nozay, France. This investment will help us to provide the fast answer to our customers' demands on the exploding fiber optic communication networks market, said Jean-Marie Vansteenkiste, president of Alcatel's optronics business unit.
Alcatel plans to double the size of its main optoelectronics facility, increasing available space for manufacturing, assembling and testing optical components to more than 120,000 square feet (11,500 m squared). The company expects its new facility -- scheduled for completion by summer 2000 after a planned investment of US $100 million (EUR 93 million) -- to create approximately 500 new jobs over a period of three years.