Northern Telecom Ltd is to sell its San Diego semiconductor plant to SGS-Thomson Microelectronics BV as part of an agreement covering joint development and manufacturing of custom integrated circuits. SGS says it expects to offer jobs to the facility’s 350 employees, and will supply a large proportion of the proprietary chips used in Northern Telecom’s systems. The Canadian will retain its semiconductor facility in Ottawa for new product and technology development and for the production of new generation components. The two will also collaborate on the development of sub-micron BiCMOS technologies for mixed signal analogue and digital integrated circuits at the Ottawa facility and at SGS in Crolles.
