India’s Sterlite Tech announced that it plans to add 15 million km to its optical-fiber cabling capacity, raising its total potential production to 33 million fiber km.

A press release said that the expansion for the integrated optical fiber and cable manufacturer will cost about $44 million). The project, to be completed in stages, is expected to come on-line by June 2020. It said that drivers for the initiative include strong market demand for "deep fiberization" for 5G, FTTx and data center connectivity.

"Given exponential data growth, telcos, internet companies and governments around the globe are looking for innovative network solutions for hyper-scale connectivity," said CEO Dr. Anand Agarwal. "Our customers see us as unique design-build-manage partners who are forward integrated from fiber and cable to network design and software solutions. This capacity investment will further deepen our customer engagement as we partner with them for network buildouts."

The company is expanding its solutions portfolio very rapidly. Recently, it announced a 100% acquisition of Metallurgica Bresciana in Italy for cable expansion, while earlier it had announced an expansion of its optical fiber capacity via a Greenfield investment. Sterlite Tech is also actively working on software-defined networks in virtualized environments.

India’s Sterlite Tech announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Metallurgica Bresciana S.p.A (Metallurgica) for approximately 47 million euros.

Per multiple media reports, the deal, made via Italian subsidiary Sterlite Technologies SpA, was expected to close in July. Metallurgica designs and manufactures special precision optical fiber cables and specialized copper cables for various communication applications. The privately held company, which this marks its 50th anniversary, focused on specialized cabling solutions for various network applications across industry segments.

 “We are delighted to sign a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Metallurgica Bresciana, which will expand Sterlite Tech’s optical fiber cabling business by augmenting our access to key European markets and adding highly complementary specialty cables to our products portfolio,” said Dr. Anand Agarwal, CEO of Sterlite Tech. “This acquisition aligns with our global supply chain strategy of having cabling facilities in close proximity to our key customers to serve their needs for next-generation networks.”

Per the Metallurgical website, the company was founded in 1968 as a producer of copper multi-tubes for instrumentation in the oil and gas sector. It expanded in 1970s to special cable assemblies and in the 1980s, it began producing low-voltage cables. In the 1990s it invested in technology to produce fiber optic cables, including the first and only linear electron beam accelerator in Italy. This advance allowed it to expand its cable range with miniaturized high temperature resistant cables for railway and industrial applications. In 2011, it opened a new production site in Ma’anshan, China for the production of cables for the local market.