India’s HFCL Limited (HFCL) announced that it plans to make a strategic expansion into Europe by setting up an optical fiber cable (OFC) manufacturing plant in Poland that will serve the increasing demand for OFC in European markets such as the U.K., Germany, Belgium, France, Poland, etc.

A press release said that HFCL aims to ramp up its share of exports in its OFC vertical revenue from the current 30% to 70% within the next four to five years. It noted that Europe has promising growth prospects as its OFC market is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 4.5% over the next five years with expected demand of 90 million fiber (mf) km by 2028. The FTTH Council estimates that some 308 million homes in the EU region will have FTTH connectivity by 2028, speeding up deployment by three to five years. “This signals a rapid expansion of FTTH networks in these areas which will lead to increased demand of OFC.”

Poland has become a favored European nation, primarily due to its attractive market access to other European nations for incentive programs and cost competitiveness. The country’s strong connectivity is further enhanced through its well-developed ports. The availability of specialized skills at relatively lower labor cost than other European nations further enhances its attractiveness of being a premier manufacturing destination.

HFCL’s plant in Poland will begin with a capacity of 3.25 mf km and be scalable up to 7 mf km, with an initial capital outlay up to about $22 million. This strategic move will enhance HFCL’s agility and reduce transit times by approximately six weeks, thereby enabling an increase in order fulfillment capacity. The operation will be incorporated via a new stepdown subsidiary in Poland under HFCL B.V.

Including its subsidiary, the company will have three modern manufacturing plants in India with annual capacity of 25 mf km. “With this strategic expansion, we are poised to align with Europe’s vision, which anticipates gigabit connectivity as a cornerstone of its future,” said HFLC Managing Director Mahendra Nahata. He noted that the venture “marks a significant milestone in the company’s journey toward global leadership in telecommunication solutions.”