Epana says hola to BayPackets

Epana Networks, which has specialized in providing voice services to the Hispanic market in the U.S., has selected BayPackets’ Agility Network Services Platform as part of its effort to expand its prepaid calling card services business.

Epana’s service will include real-time national and international call rating, multi-language and multi-currency support and Web-based provisioning. The ability to offer that service comes from collaboration between the two companies using BayPacket’s Agility Prepaid Application.

And while some larger national carriers have tried to address the Hispanic market as a whole, Epana’s approach is more suited to the differences in various segments of the population

"Within that Hispanic market there are a number of different segments and they required some customization," said Amol Joshi, vice president of marketing for BayPackets. "In reaching those segments they might sell through one or more levels of resellers."

In fact, one of the reasons BayPackets was selected was its ability to offer a customizable service interface. If a customer buys a prepaid calling card with a consumer brand, for instance, the user may never see the Epana name and almost certainly won’t see BayPacket’s brand.

"We worked side by side with Epana to build the product, but also provide the tools and environment for them to develop new applications," Joshi said.

Epana currently serves mostly wireline calling, though according to Joshi, there has been a big jump in interest from BayPackets’ customers in all things wireless. That’s particularly true in international markets like Latin America that don’t have a strong credit culture.

"In many countries there’s also a huge youth culture and many of the things they buy are perfect for micropayments," he said. "We’re also seeing a lot of interest in the MVNO market."