Belfast-based telecoms software vendor Aepona has acquired mobile payments specialist Valista as part of a plan to develop a so-called ‘Network-as-a-Service’ (NaaS) business model to target international mobile and broadband operators. In a statement, the two vendors said the model would allow operators to treat their network and informational assets as “marketable resources” that can be made available to third-party application developers, upstream service providers and the enterprise. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the combined company expects to generate revenues in the range of US$25 million to US$30 million this calendar year.

The enlarged company’s NaaS model will offer open APIs covering core network capabilities, third-party relationship management, monetisation, billing mediation and settlement, and service lifecycle management. Following the acquisition, Aepona said its client list now includes some of the world’s largest mobile and broadband operators in North America, EMEA and Asia. Current customers listed on Aepona’s website include France Telecom/Orange, Sprint, Telus, VimpelCom, TeliaSonera, Bharti Airtel and KPN. “Aepona has secured several contracts with tier-one operators to implement their Open Network API programmes, but until now we have lacked the monetisation and settlement capabilities that are required for a true NaaS offering,” said Aepona CEO Al Snyder.