HICKORY, N.C. -- Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Corning International Corporation, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hitachi Cable, Ltd. to explore the formation of a jointly owned equity company to manufacture optical fiber cable in Japan. Corning Cable Systems LLC, with headquarters in Hickory, N.C., USA, will manage Corning's interest in the equity company. Corning and Hitachi Cable are actively discussing the details of a joint manufacturing operation, and are working toward concluding definitive agreements in January 2002, with actual manufacturing to ramp up in August 2002. According to the MOU, Corning and Hitachi Cable would each own 50 percent of the equity company to be located in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Corning Cable Systems will maintain its sales office in Japan, which is one of the largest regions in the global telecommunications marketplace. "This is a very important opportunity for Corning Cable Systems and another step in our long-standing commitment to Japan," said Sanford D. Lyons, president and CEO of Corning Cable Systems. "Japan is one of the leading global regions for optical fiber cable. Corning has been working to support optical fiber communication in Japan since it invented telecommunications-grade optical fiber in the late 1960s." Corning Inc. Hitachi Ltd.