HFCL Limited has announced setting up of a state-of-the-art optical fibre manufacturing plant in Poland at the fibre to the home (FTTH) conference 2024 in Berlin. This strategic expansion underscores HFCL’s commitment to address increasing demand for optical fibre cable (OFC) in European markets and accelerate 5G and FTTH adoption to align with Europe’s vision of gigabit connectivity by 2028.
European countries are on a significant digitisation drive with national priorities such as Project Gigabit in United Kingdom, Germany’s Gigabit Strategy 2030, France Très Haut Débit, and Spain Digital 2025 Agenda, among others. This has led to increased demand for OFCs in European markets such as Germany, Belgium, France, Poland, etc. Additionally, factors such as bandwidth limitations of traditional copper cable networks, escalating data demands, and regulatory imperatives driving fibre deployments are underscoring the critical need for optical fibre infrastructures for modern day connectivity.
Europe’s OFC market is projected to experience a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 4.5 per cent over the next five years with expected demand of 90 matched node (MN) fkm per annum by 2028. The FTTH council estimates around 308 million homes in the European Union (EU) region to have FTTH connectivity by 2028, speeding up deployment by 3 to 5 years. This signals a rapid expansion of FTTH networks in these areas which will lead to increased demand of OFC.
Committed to meet this growing demand and contribute to Europe’s digital future, HFCL has laid out an initial investment of up to Euro 15.9 million for its Poland optical fibre cable manufacturing plant which will begin with a capacity of 3.25 million fibre km scalable to much higher capacity in future. HFCL currently serves more than 60 customers in Europe and manufactures a range of OFCs including high fibre count micro cables, micro duct, micromodule, FTTH, ADSS, underground, and aerial cables.
The strategic move of setting up the manufacturing plant will help serve HFCL’s existing and new customers by reducing transit time by approximately six weeks, thus leading to increased order fulfilment capacity. The decision is also aligned to safeguard from potential regulatory shifts, encourage localised manufacturing and enhancing competitiveness in the region. The establishment of the manufacturing facility in Poland will be facilitated through the incorporation of a new stepdown subsidiary in Poland under HFCL B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in the Netherlands.
