Corning Expanding in Italy

CORNING, N.Y. -- Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) today announced that its board of directors approved a $150 million capital investment plan to enhance and expand the recently acquired Corning Optical Technologies Italia (Corning OTI) operations, formerly owned by Pirelli. The investment will allow the company to significantly increase its capacity in lithium niobate modulators, pump lasers, certain specialty fibers, and fiber gratings, all key elements of Corning's expanding portfolio of optical networking products. The Corning OTI optical component device manufacturing operations affected by this investment are being relocated to San Donato near Milan, Italy from their current location in Bicocca, Italy. The new facility is expected to be fully operational and its employment level doubled by the end of 2001. The new location will be equipped with state of the art manufacturing equipment and technologies in order to meet the explosive market demand for Corning's new lines of photonic products.

"Providing our customers with continually enhanced value propositions for high-speed next generation systems is essential to Corning's growth strategy as a leading optical communications company," noted Corning Incorporated's Chief Executive Officer, John Loose. "Our expansion of manufacturing capabilities at Corning OTI is yet another demonstration of this commitment to the needs of our optical communications customer base."

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