VegaStream is expanding its global operations with the creation of a sales and support office in Miami, Florida to target the opportunities in Central and Latin America.

Industry veteran Manolo Blanco joins VegaStream as Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing Central for the Latin America Division and will head the new office. Manolo joins VegaStream from media gateway manufacturer General Bandwidth for whom he developed the business in the CALA region. His career includes sales and business development posts with Infinitec Networks, Glenayre Electronics and Lucent Technologies where he was Director of Distribution Channels for the Caribbean/Latin America Business Communications Services Division.

VegaStream has also appointed Jay Rosero as Senior Director Technical Support for its Latin American Division based out of Florida USA. Jay worked in engineering and sales in the CALA region since 1979. He studied electrical engineering at Universidad Del Cauca in Colombia and currently is with DeVry University's Network and Communications Management program.

"Pyramid Research estimates the business market for telecom services in Latin America is worth US$21bn with a large universe of companies expressing a willingness to subscribe to new IP-based telecoms services," said Tim Burne, CEO of VegaStream. "Combined with Datamonitor's prediction of a 18.4% CAGR in call centres in the region, the Latin American opportunity is enormous for our products. Our new office will provide focused support for our resellers in the region to fully address this opportunity."

"VegaStream has tremendous potential in the region," said Manolo Blanco. "Gateways are the essential catalyst for the take up of VoIP. The VegaStream proposition to connect a low-cost IP bearer to a business' existing phone system is very attractive. The VegaStream kit is proven, reliable and relatively simple to configure to deliver cost savings without disrupting the way people work."

VegaStream's portfolio of VoIP gateways provides seamless interoperability between the varied legacy of PSTN interfaces and new IP networks. Targeted at businesses and service providers, the products are based on international communications standards, including both SIP and H.323 and range from 8 to 120 ports covering both analog and digital interfaces.

In the past six months VegaStream has ramped up its distribution and support operations to meet the global surge in demand for VoIP. In Europe, the company has appointed Azlan as exclusive distributor and opened a new office in Sydney to develop the Asia Pacific market.