Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) says it has selected Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) to supply fiber to the home (FTTH) technology for fiber access network expansion. The agreement builds on an existing relationship that has seen Corning support STC's kingdom-wide network with more than 1.5 million km of fiber.
Corning also will help STC develop an advanced technical training program for the service provider's fiber engineers and technicians.
"STC is building the largest fiber network in the history of the kingdom. I am delighted to see us strike such an initiative with Corning, which will help meeting STC's strategic goals for digital Services, and will align with the objectives of the National Transformation Program (NTP 2020) and Vision 2030," said Eng. Nasser Sulaiman Al Nasser, STC chief operations officer. "Corning is a pioneer in fiber-optics solutions and FTTH, and we are excited to build such an extended strategic relationship with one of the most progressive and internationally renowned companies."
"STC enjoys a strong reputation as an innovator in the Middle East. It established itself as a leader in advanced broadband technologies such as FTTH," added Clark Kinlin, executive vice president of Corning Optical Communications. "Corning shares STC's commitment and vision for innovation, and together, we will leverage our engineering capabilities, experience, and solutions to build the KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] national network to the highest possible standard. We are honored to make the investment necessary to extend our partnership with STC."
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