Corning to Boost Capacity

Corning Inc., the top maker of glass fibers used in high-speed telecommunications, said it will more than double capacity to make light-regulating optical amplifiers to meet demand from customers such as Lucent Technologies Inc. Corning will invest $50 million to set up a factory in Pennsylvania and hire about 1,000 workers in the next 12 months. Corning now employs about 15,400. Demand for the amplifiers has increased as customers such as Lucent, Nortel Networks Corp. and Alcatel race one another to build communications systems that carry the Internet. Corning shares fell $13.06 to close at 180.94 on the NYSE. They’ve more than tripled in the last year.