Russia?s first optical fiber factory breaks ground to supply 30% of national market

Russia?s first $92m optical fiber factory broke ground earlier this month in the industrial district of Saransk, the capital city of Mordovia in the mid-Volga

Russia?s first $92m optical fiber factory broke ground earlier this month in the industrial district of Saransk, the capital city of Mordovia in the mid-Volga, the official Mordovia government website announced. The construction project is slated for completion 6.5 years from now. Gazprombank, a major Russian bank, and Rusnano, Russia?s nanotech giant, are the main investors in the new project. ?When it starts running at full throttle, Optical Fiber Systems [the name of the future factory] will manufacture 2.4 million kilometers of fiber a year. This will be enough to supply 20-to-30% of Russia?s entire market,? the regional administration said. According to the project initiators, one kilometer of optical fiber 125 microns in diameter will enable 10 million phone conversations at a time. In addition, the factory is expected to also manufacture special optical fiber for laser instruments, complex monitoring systems and unique medical devices. Today, all the 20 Russian factories that produce fiber optic cables have to import optical fiber[/the]...