Volex Regulatory News (VLX)

VOLEX WORKS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HUAWEI TO SUPPLY CABLE ASSEMBLIES TO EUROPEAN TELECOMS MARKET

- Cable assemblies group provides flexible delivery and short lead times

in a multi-million pound annual contract -

18 March 2010: Volex Group plc, the global electrical and electronic cable assemblies group, has been selected by global telecom solutions provider Huawei as a local cable assemblies partner for European operations. The contract will see Volex utilise its global footprint to achieve a flexible delivery model for Huawei's mobile infrastructure projects across Europe.

As part of its growth strategy and to provide a faster service to customers in Europe, Huawei has recently invested in a local logistics centre in Hungary. With an established local presence, and the use of European contract manufacturers to perform the final assembly process, Huawei has achieved significant improvement on product turnaround times leading to lower unit costs and shorter lead times.

Following the opening of the local logistics centre, however, the challenges surrounding cable assemblies and site installation still remained. In order to answer to the growing demand for sufficient 3G and 4G coverage throughout Europe, Huawei is installing its products over a vast number of base-station sites. During the installation process Huawei typically has only a short window to put the product in place with the appropriate cabling and interconnects; and with some of the interconnect requirements being site-specific, this can present a significant logistical challenge for the installation team as well as the cable supplier.

Conway Hui, General Manager, Volex China, comments, "With the need to deliver bespoke cable assemblies at very short notice and at the lowest cost possible, Huawei has engaged with Volex as partner for Europe. Volex has already established manufacturing and installation operations in this region, and is capable of offering a flexible delivery model for telecoms cable assemblies - so is the natural choice for this challenge."

Volex is supplying interconnect products to Huawei's European telecoms installations in an annual contract worth several million pounds. These interconnects will be applied as both standard and bespoke assemblies.

Hui continues, "Volex has been selected on its global credentials. Europe is the first collaboration, but importantly the company has the capability to support Huawei across many regions, which would simplify its supplier relationships and achieve consistency of supply; bringing all important costs down."

Jeff Bierman, Senior VP, Volex Group, comments, "The partnership with Huawei in Europe is evidence of Volex's drive to expand the business in the Telecoms arena. This is grounded in our product-design expertise and manufacturing know-how, as well the ability to supply flexible supply-chain solutions using our global footprint. By ensuring its involvement throughout the design, development and manufacturing process, Volex is able to contribute to solving industry issues, such as shipping, logistics and installation challenges, by bringing products to market faster and more efficiently."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

About Volex - www.volex.com  

Volex (LSE: VLX.L) is a leading provider of interconnect solutions and power products, servicing the telecommunications, data centre, industrial, consumer and medical sectors for over 100 years. Volex's range of interconnect solutions include original-design fibre-optic, high-speed copper and radio frequency (RF) cable assemblies. Volex has design and manufacturing facilities spread across the globe, enabling flexibility in meeting customers' delivery timetables and price targets.

About Huawei - www.huawei.com  

Huawei is a telecom solutions provider specialising in network infrastructure, application & software, devices and professional services throughout its global regions. Its products and services have been deployed in over 100 countries and have served 45 of the world's top 50 telecoms operators.

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