Spartanburg County manufacturer investing $50M to expand operations

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AFL, a manufacturer of fiber optic cables, connectivity and equipment, is investing more than $50 million to expand its fiber optic cable manufacturing operations in Duncan.

The company says the investment aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Internet for All initiatives to increase broadband access in the United States.

It will result in the creation of new jobs and support AFL’s portfolio of products compliant with the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA), according to a news release from the company. The number of expected new jobs was not divulged.

“This expansion highlights AFL’s commitment to providing an end-to-end BABA compliant cable and connectivity portfolio for our valued U.S. customers and represents a significant milestone toward AFL’s ongoing contribution to a stronger, more connected future for all communities across the country,” Jaxon Lang, president and CEO of AFL, said in the release.

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The March 21 announcement builds on AFL’s previous investment of more than $35 million in the expansion of domestic cable manufacturing to support broadband deployment and modernization of the power grid.

Key highlights of the expansion include:

Increased production capacity to meet the surging demand for fiber optic cable

Creation of new jobs at AFL’s manufacturing facilities

Development of innovative and sustainable fiber optic cable solutions

Commitment to using U.S.-made materials and supporting the domestic supply chain

To learn about AFL’s efforts to comply with domestic preference requirements and other resources related to BABA, visit the company website.

AFL is an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise, hyperscale and industrial markets. The company’s products are in use in more than 130 countries and include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectivity, test and inspection equipment and fusion splicers.

AFL also offers a wide variety of services supporting data center, enterprise, wireless and outside plant applications.

Headquartered in Spartanburg, AFL has operations in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan.