Nokia to produce broadband network electronics products in the United States

President Biden’s internal economy policy focuses a lot on trying to convince important companies to start producing their products in the United States. Even though that will be a lot more expensive than manufacturing the same products in China, Vietnam or any other countries with cheap labor, it appears that the benefits are greater.

Nokia is one of the first big companies to announce the manufacturing of important products in the United States. The Finnish brand will be making broadband network electronics products for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia, announced this week.

Nokia has partnered with Sanmina Corporation to manufacture products in the US at the Sanmina Pleasant Prairie facility in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. The manufacturing of Nokia’s fiber-optic broadband electronics products is scheduled to start in 2024 and is expected to bring up to 200 new jobs to the state of Wisconsin.

“By bringing the manufacturing of our fiber-optic broadband access products to the U.S., BEAD participants will be able to work with us to bridge the digital divide. We look forward to bringing more Americans online,” said Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia.

Nokia also confirmed that the following fiber-optic broadband products will be manufactured in the United States: Optical Line Termination card for a modular Access Node, a small form factor OLT, OLT optical modules, and an “outdoor-hardened” ONT (Optical Network Terminal).

The announcement also mentions a few interesting facts related to the brand. For example, seven out of ten fiber broadband connections in North America are made through Nokia equipment. Also, Nokia is the top supplier of fiber-optic broadband technology for service providers in the US. Not to mention that the Finnish company was the first to deploy 1, 10 and 25 Gigabit fiber-optic broadband networks in the US.