OFS BROADENS PORTFOLIO TO SELL FUSION SPLICERS AND OPTICAL COMPONENTS

Integration of FEC Telecommunications Products Offers Stronger, Unified Product Portfolio

OFC/ NFOEC 2009, Booth 2539, San Diego, California, March 23, 2009 - OFS, designer, manufacturer and supplier of leading edge fiber optic network products announced today that its parent company, The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (FEC), has launched a new business structure for its subsidiaries in North America.  As part of this new business structure OFS has begun to sell certain FEC telecommunication products which had formerly been sold by Furukawa America Inc. (FAI), another FEC subsidiary.  These products are:

* Optical Components, which include pump lasers, signal lasers, connector parts, etc.
* Fusion Splicers, which produce highly accurate, reliable splices with minimal loss for today’s telecommunication networks.

Both optical components and fusion splicer product groups will continue to be sold under the FITEL® brand name. This re-alignment aims at growing the overall telecommunications business for FEC by generating added value for its customers. 

“FAI and OFS have been serving many of the same customers for several years,” said Dr. Timothy Murray, CEO of OFS.  “We will now be able to approach them with a broader, stronger and unified telecommunications product portfolio.”

The optical components sales group is part of the OFS Specialty Photonics Division (SPD) sales group under the leadership of Finn Birkedahl, Manager, Sales & Marketing SPD Telecommunications.  Optical component customer service is located in OFS’ Somerset, New Jersey facility.

The fusion splicer sales group is part of the OFS Fiber, Cable and Connectivity sales group led by Bill Kloss, Executive VP of Marketing & Sales, North America & CALA.

About OFS

OFS is a world-leading designer, manufacturer and provider of optical fiber, optical fiber cable, FTTX, optical connectivity and specialty photonics products.  Our manufacturing and research divisions work together to provide innovative products and solutions that traverse many different applications as they link people and machines worldwide. Between continents, between cities, around neighborhoods, and into homes and businesses of digital consumers we provide the right optical fiber, optical cable and components for efficient, cost-effective transmission.
 
OFS’ corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and included technology powerhouses such as AT&T (NYSE: T) and Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent, NYSE: ALU). Today, OFS is owned by Furukawa Electric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in optical communications. 

Headquartered in Norcross (near Atlanta) Georgia, U.S., OFS is a global provider with facilities in Avon, Connecticut; Carrollton, Georgia; Somerset, New Jersey; and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, as well as in Denmark, Germany and Russia.

For more information, please visit www.ofsoptics.com.

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Sherry Salyer      
OFS Public Relations      
shsalyer@ofsoptics.com    
Direct:  770-798-4210 
Mobile: 678-296-7034