Arris to invest in Irish R&D operations

The €4.5 million investment, supported by IDA Ireland, will strengthen the R&D effort in Cork by adding new skills and technologies that will significantly advance the potential for technical innovation within the Company's Irish operations. The Irish Minister for Labour Affairs, Billy Kelleher TD, said, "This is excellent news as the investment will further secure the existing ARRIS operations and employment at the Cork site. It again demonstrates the ability of Irish based R&D operations to contribute cutting-edge and highly complex solutions as part of a parent company's strategic future development plans. The decision to locate such a strategic investment at the Cork site was influenced by its success to date, for which the Cork management and workforce are to be congratulated." Arris will use the investment to improve its existing D5(TM) Universal EdgeQAM (UEQ) along with the R&D required to increase its large volume manufacturing capability and quality to the scale and stringent levels demanded by Arris and its customers. Universal EdgeQAMs are now being introduced into cable networks around the world to provide the increased capacity, needed especially for unicast video services. Arris Communications Ireland, located at the Cork Airport Business Park, employs 52 people doing R&D work into embedded products for cable networks. This investment will further endorse the Cork operation's position as a Centre-of-Excellence for the development of video products within Arris. The Cork operation, formerly Com21 Ireland, was established in 1999 and was acquired by Arris in mid-2003. The operation, with previous IDA Ireland R&D support, has successfully developed several products, including the D5 Universal EdgeQAM.