GAITHERSBURG, Maryland, March 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- As regional network-equipment markets surge, Patton appoints telecom executive and technology expert Ernesto Casas to expand operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Patton -- the leader in business and carrier-class network access, connectivity, VoIP and triple-play equipment -- has appointed Ernesto Casas as Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, effective 16 February 2009.

Casas' appointment reflects Patton's commitment to ongoing investment in Latin America, building on a substantial installed base that includes Avantel, Mexico's premier IP-based services provider.

Right now the telecom market in Latin America is red hot, said Burton A. Patton, Executive Vice President. In the current global economic climate, that is very good news. Yet Patton has a longstanding relationship with Latin America and we're in it for the long haul. Mr. Casas has both the technology expertise and the executive know-how to serve the needs of the region's fast-growing telecom and IT infrastructures.

Patton's announcement follows Light Reading's report covering infrastructure buildups and new service deployments in Latin America by Global Crossing, BT group, and Telefonica, which announced a fourth-quarter profit increase of 89% in the region. Last week Network World wrote the Latin American telecom market is muy caliente citing Orange Business Services' doubled IP-network capacity to meet increasing customer demand.

Ernie has sharp business acumen, Mr. Patton continued, combined with in-depth understanding of the market-shaping technologies. As a native Spanish speaker -- which is a must -- he understands the regional culture. He is the ideal leader for Patton's Latin America team.

As Latin America director with 3COM, Mr. Casas doubled the voice business in a single year. At CANTV, his restructured product development cycle reduced time-to-market by 60%, from 59 weeks to less than 12 weeks. Mr. Casas' experience has also included executive positions with carrier Supercable and VoIP provider Vox2Vox.

Mr. Casas has held professorships at Universidad Humbold and Politecnico de Las Fuerzas Armadas de Venezuela. In his academic work, Casa has studied the effects of broadband adoption, Public Wireless and IP convergence on human communications. He holds a Cum Laude graduate computer science degree from Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela.

Mr. Casas is supported by Patton's Latin America team, which includes Spanish-speaking product management, technical support, and sales support staff.

For more information, contact sales@patton.com, www.patton.com.

Chris Christner, +1-301-975-1000, ext. 109, cchris@patton.com