Prysmian expands to supply Telstra’s intercity fibre network

Italian-headquartered cable company Prysmian Group has said it expects to make new hires after an expansion at its factory on Sydney’s northern beaches to supply Telstra’s intercity fibre network.

Prysmian was selected by Telstra in 2022 to provide fibre optical cable for Telstra InfraCo. The network will cover an estimated 14,000 kilometres, following the addition of new routes announced in November last year.

In a statement on Monday, Prysmian said it had installed new buffering, stranding and sheathing lines from Europe for the project at the Dee Why factory. This is “in addition to testing, winding and other auxiliary equipment to support production.”

Prysmian said it expected to increase the workforce by 20 per cent in its local telecom portfolio during the project’s peak, though did not say how many jobs this represented.

“This significant investment into Australian-based skills, R&D, and manufacturing is the result of two years of collaborative research and development,” said Frederick Persson, Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions at Prysmian. 

“Together with Telstra, we have designed a world leading fibre optic cable that will support the current and future demand for high capacity, low-latency fibre networks in Australia.”

Picture: credit Telstra

The new cable is 59 per cent smaller and 54 per cent lighter than the previous design used across Telstra’s current fibre network, according to Prysmian.

Main picture: picture taken at Dee Why site (credit Prysmian Australia)