Russian Firm Teams with Lucent for Fiber Cable Venture

Lucent Technologies and SviazStroy-1 have formed a joint venture company to manufacture fiber optic cable for the Russian market. Called Lucent Technologies SviazStroy-1 Fiber Optic Cable Co., the new organization will be based in Voronezh, Russia, about 500 km south of Moscow. Lucent will be the majority owner of the joint venture, with a 51% share. SviazStroy-1, the largest construction company implementing orders of Rostelekom and regional PTTs in Central Russia, will own 49% of the firm.

The facility, which is located in already-constructed and operational SviazStroy-1 workshops, will produce single-mode fiber optic cable, as well as Lucent's TrueWave RS and AllWave fiber optic cable offerings. Initially, some 60 people will be employed by the company, with approximately 40 production employees expected to be hired for the fiber optic cable operation during the next two years.

Lucent Technologies has more than 400 employees at nine locations in Russia, CIS in manufacturing, sales and service operations in the cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Ekaterinburg, Kiev, Almati, and Voronezh. In the past few years, Lucent has invested well over $30 million in Russia, including its manufacturing facilities and laboratories in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Leningrad.