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A fiber cable producer is celebrating their commitment to the United States after opening a manufacturing facility in South Carolina and entering into a partnership with Windstream, which offers fiber internet service through their Kinetic by Windstream business.
Sterlite Technologies Limited (STL), a global network integration company that produces fiber-optic cabling, has gone all in on their commitment to the United States as emphasized by the announcement of a new formal partnership and the opening of a manufacturing facility in South Carolina, according to Paul Atikinson, the CEO of the firm’s optical networking business.
Atkinson spoke with Broadband Communities to talk about STL’s establishment of operations in South Carolina’s Kershaw County, a $56 million investment in the area, according to information previously released by the office of South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.
The plant, named the Palmetto Plant, employs over 150 people, including skilled manufacturing associates and industry specialists, according to STL’s September announcement about the plant, which is based in the community of Lugoff and serves as STL’s North America Heaquarters.
During the process of deciding where their United States factory was going to be built, Atkinson said STL considered many states.
STL described their new South Carolina plant as a state-of-the-art, industry-certified manufacturing facility that can produce optical solutions for Windstream and other service providers.
“South Carolina ticked, probably, all of the boxes,” Atkinson said.
He added that the company had a large amount of support from South Carolina’s state government and said STL was attracted by the ability to tap into local educational institutions, like the University of South Carolina, and develop homegrown talent.
“When you start to look at this industry, the North American market is by far the second biggest market outside of China,” he said. “So the amount of talent, the amount of expertise, the engineering expertise that’s required, particularly on a global aspect, and having that capability to start to develop some of the local relationships with the educational bodies is really important to us.”
The South Carolina plant has already led to some partnerships for STL. Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with Windstream, a private communications company.
Windstream has multiple fiber projects underway including an extension of their existing route, which runs from Tulsa to Little Rock, and then on to Memphis, according to a July announcement about the partnership between the two firms. Windstream is also involved in a new fiber build from Raleigh to Jacksonville, and another project with a route stretching from New York City to Montreal in Canada, the announcement said.
“Windstream sets the bar high in terms of technology and engineering and we are confident that STL, with nearly 30 years of optical expertise and global footprint, will ably support our connectivity ambitions,” said Buddy Bayer, the president of Windstream Wholesale and Enterprise, in July.
Karl-Arne Hegewald, a senior vice president of network infrastructure and operations at Windstream, said the company has four long-haul routes that they’ve either completed building or are in the process of building.
“We’re spending about $100 million in these long-haul route builds,” said Hegewald, who joined Atkinson to offer comments to Broadband Communities. “And so, the STL fiber is key to that.”
With the South Carolina facility, STL can produce fiber that complies with Build America, Buy America Act requirements, according to Atkinston.
Collaboration between Windstream and STL began in February 2021, when STL began providing optical networking solutions to Windstream, according to STL’s summary about their relationship with Windstream. Since 2021, STL has expanded upon their offerings to include bonded ribbon and flat ribbon fiber-optic cables, the company said.
STL said the expanded product line is designed to ensure faster rollout, superior network longevity, and high scalability, which aligns with the Windstream’s requirements for metro and long-haul optical networks.
Hegewald said STL’s fiber has become a key part of Windstream’s growth and expansion efforts.
He said STL’s plant in South Carolina is important for Windstream because it’s located in the Southeast, near the heart of Windstream’s Kinetic business, which deploys gigabit internet service to homes, businesses, and carrier partners.
He said the proximity of the plant to several of Windstream’s ongoing projects has reduced transportation costs and delivery times.
In total, Kinetic by Windstream has invested over $2 billion to expand gigabit internet service across their 18-state footprint, according to the July announcement about the partnership between STL and Windstream.
