Verizon Awards $300 Million Fiber-Optic Cable Supply Contract

Prysmian Group has been awarded a $300 million contract from Verizon Communications to support the company’s US network expansion around a next-generation fiber platform that will speed the deployment of 5G services, while improving 4G LTE and other broadband capacity. The three-year contract will include the supply of more than 10.6 million miles of ribbon and loose tube cables.

“Prysmian Group’s telecom division is an established optical cable and connectivity solutions provider to Verizon,” Viju Menon, Verizon’s chief supply chain officer, said. “This strategic supply agreement helps ensure we can ramp supply in order to expand our network capacity and speed 5G deployment.”

To fulfill the terms of the contract, Prysmian intends to make a significant investment through 2018 in its United States-based optical cable unit. Currently, the company has three telecom production sites in America, two for the production of optical cable and one for the production of optical fiber.