Italian Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, on Tuesday inaugurated its largest optical cable plant in Europe located in Slatina (southern Romania), after making a EUR 25 million investment, part of its global 3-year investments of EUR 250 million in optical fibre and cable facilities worldwide, a press release informs.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by H.E. Marco Giungi, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy in Romania, Valerio Battista, CEO Prysmian Group, Philippe Vanhille, Senior Vice President Telecom Business Prysmian Group, and Francesco Fanciulli, CEO CEE Region, along with senior representatives of the Olt county authorities.
“As a worldwide leading player in the industry, we are strongly committed to supporting the needs of Governments and Telecom operators in developing new broadband networks, by continuing to invest in optical fibre and cable capacity as well as in new technologies and know-how,” said Valerio Battista (photo), adding: “We have been involved in projects all over the world and we are bringing this new plant the undisputed quality of our product together with all our experience. When developing strategic infrastructure like telecommunication networks, quality and reliability are critical. Prysmian has proven to be able to satisfy those requirements”.
Over the past 5 years, Prysmian has invested almost EUR 60 million in Romania to develop new capabilities and capacity at the Slatina site, laying the groundwork that will let the country become a European hub of excellence and innovation for optical cables, as well as a top technological centre for HV and MV Energy cables.
With a covered area of around 28,000 sqm, the plant has a modular design, which can easily be expanded if the need should arise. The new optical cable plant is located inside the new Slatina Milcov industrial park, almost 40 percent of whose available land was acquired by Prysmian back in 2015 for a total area of around 110,000 sqm. Construction started in October 2015 and lasted 11 months, and mass production is due to start in June 2017.
In Slatina, almost 1,000 Prysmian employees produce optical and energy cables, with 80 percent of the products being exported all around the world. The Group’s attention to Romania offers the country the opportunity to be at the centre stage of a technology intensive industry, with highly competitive products.
With annual production capacity of over 8 million fibre kilometres, this plant is one of the largest of its kind and employs the most advanced industrial technologies and know-how, giving it the capability to meet the growing demand for optical cables for deployment of new high-speed telecom networks.
“We are interested in making Slatina a major centre of excellence for the optical and energy cable industry, and the inauguration of the second plant in this location reconfirms our commitment, while the solid partnership with the local and national authorities offers even better prospects for future investment. There are two particular components we pride ourselves on: the highly skilled team and the high-tech equipment. This is why Prysmian products in Slatina have such a significant added value,” concluded Valerio Battista.