CommScope continues to expand its manufacturing capabilities to support the burgeoning Chinese wireless market with a major expansion at one of its Suzhou facilities. The 5,000 square meter expansion, which includes additional production lines, is scheduled to be fully operational in early 2012.

This represents the fourth expansion to this facility, where Andrew-branded wireless equipment is produced for deployment primarily in China and other parts of Asia, since its inception in 1997. The last was in April 2011 with the inauguration of a new state-of-the-art base station antenna testing facility.

The multi-million dollar investment will include a production workshop, a new base station antenna assembly facility, additional HELIAX® FXL RF feeder cable production lines and office space. The company also operates a second facility in Suzhou for the manufacture of products used in cable television, business enterprise and wireless networks.

“The Suzhou site is one of our showcase facilities in CommScope’s global manufacturing network and a vital production hub in support of the China wireless market and other parts of the region,” said Chris Story, Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing, CommScope. “This versatile site supports our customers with one-stop production capabilities that include R&D, manufacturing, testing, product demonstrations and training. In view of the expanding communication infrastructure market in this region, we are committed to further gear up our site to capitalize on the emerging opportunities.”

The Suzhou site, currently with about 2,500 workers and a production area of more than 25,000 square meters, manufactures a variety of its Andrew-branded products including HELIAX coaxial cables, connectors, cable assemblies, base station antennas, ValuLine® microwave antennas and components. The additional 5,000 square meters is expected to significantly increase production capacity for base station antennas and 50 Ω cable.