CHARLTON, Mass., March 5 -- FiberCore Inc. has received orders from European customers valued at about $19 million, several under "take or pay" arrangements. The orders are primarily for FiberCore's multimode fiber to be used in premises and LAN applications. The company will make shipments from 2001 to 2003 from its German production facilities.
    "We continue to experience strong demand in the European market, especially for multimode fiber," said Bob Sebesto, vice president of global sales and marketing. "As the only independent fiber supplier in Europe, we have made significant inroads over the past few years with many of the major cable manufacturers who are looking for a stable long-term source of supply. The continued growth in our backlog, more than 50 percent of which are 'take or pay' contracts, parallels the company's rapid capacity expansion plans."