Huawei opts for Aussie-made optical kit

Chinese network supplier Huawei and fibre-optics company Finisar have signed a new memorandum of understanding that will see Finisar supply new processors for Huawei — a move which is seeing Finisar employ 95 new workers in New South Wales.

Finisar was recruited by Huawei 12 months ago to supply Dynamic Wavelength Processors and Wavelength Selective Switches for Huawei's fibre network systems. The processor helps respond to increasing bandwidth demands and changes to the service — whether it be voice, data, video, mobile wireless or storage applications. Huawei said each unit has to be made by hand and can take up to nine days to complete.

To cope with the demand, Finisar had placed 75 new employees at its Waterloo office in the past 12 months to build the technology for Huawei; however, the new memorandum of understanding signed today enables the company to hire an additional 20 workers.

"This contract with Huawei means that Finisar's Australian-designed and Australian-made optical components will be used globally in Huawei's world-leading fibre solutions," Finisar Australia vice president and general manager Allen Conduit said. "This contract will see Finisar increase production of key optical components, creating more jobs in NSW and bringing local expertise to a worldwide market."

The news was announced by NSW Premier Kristina Keneally at the launch of New South Wales week at the Shanghai Expo in China.

"It's great news for both companies — Huawei gets a quality Australian-made, Australian-designed product, while Finisar has a commitment that allows it to increase production by 40 per cent," Keneally said in a statement.

She also announced the agreement on Twitter this morning.

Last week Huawei announced a new training centre located at RMIT University in Melbourne aimed at training engineers in network technology for the National Broadband Network.