Fujitsu Invests $500 Million for Production Expansion

Responding to the demand for its Flash-192 10 Gbps optical transport system, Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. (Richardson, TX) plans to double its current production capacity over the next year. Along with its parent company, Tokyo-based Fujitsu Ltd., the company expects to invest $500 million over the next two years, adding equipment and personnel in a concerted effort to increase product line output to 1,000 systems per month–10 times the rate for the beginning of 1999.

The Flash-192 is Fujitsu's SONET add/drop multiplexer for high-capacity transport systems in interoffice and interexchange carrier networks. Operating at 10 Gbps, the system combines the functionality of a fiber-optic terminal, digital multiplexer, and digital cross-connect into a single network node. Its routing capability gives service providers a 768 x 768 time slot assignment (TSA) matrix, allowing them to route and groom individual STS channels.

The company also plans to ramp up production of its FLASHWAVE wavelength division multiplexing system and its SONET OC-48 add/drop multiplexer, the FLM 2400 ADM.

Edited by Meredith Lockard