Verizon Communications has awarded Prysmian Group a $300 million optical cable supply contract. Prysmian Group North America headquarters are in Lexington.

The agreement supports Verizon’s U.S. network expansion around a next-generation fiber platform that will speed the implementation of 5G services. Verizon will supply 10.6 million miles of ribbon and loose tube cables. The agreement was announced Monday in a press release.

“As a recognized global leading producer of optical cables, supporting the most advanced infrastructure of many of the world’s telecom operators, Prysmian Group is proud to have been chosen by Verizon as partner for the development of such a strategic project,” said Hakan Ozmen, CEO of Prysmian Group North America.

Demand and supply for next-generation passive optical network will last well beyond 2020 as new technologies like 5G and the IoT (Internet of Things) become reality. Prysmian will make a significant investment through 2018 in its U.S.-based optical cable organization to support this project and the growth of major telecoms carriers in North America.
Prysmian Group’s telecom division has qualified as an optical fiber, optical cable and connectivity solutions provider to Verizon for more than a decade.

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

Philippe Vanhille, senior vice president of telecom at Prysmian Group, said: “As the world goes wireless, wireless is drawn to fiber. Economic growth and consumer demand depend largely on superfast, gigabit broadband connectivity that is always available. Our pronouncement is that this is best delivered over a fixed optical network.”
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