UK Investment capital group 3i – which currently has UKP77m invested in telecommunications companies – has published a report forecasting that 1m businesses in the European Community will be connected to optical fibre carrier networks by 1995. The company says that the results of the report, will have far reaching affects on 3i’s research and development activities and what it sees on market opportunities. The report outlines opportunities for fibre suppliers and for companies offering services dependent on advanced telecommunications, the market for which, according to 3i, will grow beyond all comprehension over the next 10 years. Specific areas picked out for volume production include medical imaging, home shopping, video-telephone and computer-aided design. Local area networks running at speeds of up to 100Mbps and Metropolitan Area nets were also mentioned as investment opportunities. Marc Gillespie, director of 3i’s Technology Programme, commented that we expect to see an increase in demand for investment capital to fund start-ups and enable companies to expand their activities into new markets in the field of fibre.
