Optical Fibre-cont.

摘要

The proposed merger of the Alcatel and Draka communication cable businesses (covering optical fibre, fibre optic cable and also, from Draka's side, copper communication cables) is the first large-scale move towards industry consolidation since the takeover of Lucent's OFS business by Furukawa/CommScope in late 2001. The merger will bring together two of the main global producers of optical fibre. We rank Alcatel and Draka at No 5 and No 6 respectively amongst the world's fibre producers. Alcatel is focused mainly on single mode products and Draka has a particular strength in multimode, especially in the European market. Draka has been able to grow its global business in optical fibre in 2003, against the general market trend, through strong growth in its Chinese joint venture (YOFC).