Q&A: Mateo Ward, CEO at Neutrona Networks International

Q&A: Mateo Ward, CEO at Neutrona Networks International

Capacity Latam 2015: Mateo Ward, CEO at Neutrona Networks talks about the company's operations in Latin America, and what make this market so attractive.

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What are your strategic priorities in Latin America for 2015?

We already have SDN TE Controllers activated and running in our lab and on test nodes. In 2015 we plan to activate SDN across the entire High-IQ Juniper MX-series backbone network that we purchased and deployed in 2014, replacing all legacy equipment in our network and unifying our service platform.

We have also committed to investing over $10 million in 2015 to add 100Gbps of capacity to our international network and will be phasing the new optical wavelengths into our regional mesh network between May and July 2015.

We already have the most advanced service platform in the region and it is connected to the most extensive selection of high-quality local access providers. In 2015 we will use our automated geolocation enabled pricing tool, and procurement tools to increase our commercial intelligence significantly in order to help our carrier partners win more enterprise business into the Americas.

Carriers like Neutrona are adding more intelligence and automation to their networks to ensure the best possible customer experience. 

  

What major trends do you see occurring in the Latin American market this year?

First of all, enterprises are significantly increasing the amount of bandwidth they use for their primary voice, video and data connections as they outsource more of their applications to the cloud.

Secondly, telcos and broadcasters are starting to gear up for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Thirdly, we will see major cloud-providers are establishing direct presence in the region, with Brazil as the first point of entry.

Lastly, global carrier competition is fierce and carriers are innovating faster than ever before to introduce new products and more flexible and cost-efficient services. For example, Tata’s recent introduction of IZO Internet WAN in partnership with Neutrona for Latam.

  

What do you hope to achieve by attending Capacity Latam 2015?

Neutrona is always looking to increase the scope and depth of our carrier relationships

We already have the most extensive selection of connected local access partners (over 100) and will use Capacity Latam as the perfect venue to engage with new carrier providers and expand our network of relationships and NNIs.

Neutrona also feels that attending Capacity Latam is important from a market presence perspective. Even though our international carrier customers are primarily located outside of Latin America, being a part of Capacity Latam proves to our customers that we are a strong presence in the market, that we are committed to the region, and that we are here to stay for the long-term.

  

What are some of the challenges of operating in the Latam market? 

Neutrona’s specialty is overcoming the challenges of operating in Latam, this is why one of the most sought-after promotional items at ITW each year is Neutrona’s “Latam Aspirin”.

Everything is difficult in this region starting with the number of countries. There are only three countries in North America, one of which is shared with Latam. In our region we have over 40 countries. Operating across such a large number of countries with often strict regulatory and customs environments means that almost everything is hard including: cultural barriers, logistics, equipment procurement, fibre cut repairs, regional and local pricing, provisioning and network monitoring.

Neutrona makes all of this easy and avoids any headaches. An excellent customer experience is our primary value proposition.

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