RateXchange lures Eric Handa from Asia Capacity Exchange

RateXchange, a US-based online bandwidth exchange, has named Eric Handa as managing director of its Asia-Pacific operations. Handa was previously regional trading director at Hong Kong-based rival Asia Capacity Exchange.

The appointment comes amid growing competition between online bandwidth exchanges, which facilitate the buying and selling of telecommunications capacity. RateXchange, one of the earliest companies in the business, is now seeking to expand into Asia, as prices for bandwidth plummet.

Handa, who will be based in Hong Kong, will lead RateXchange's customer acquisition and marketing programme in Asia. Before joining Asia Capacity Exchange, Handa was an operations research analyst at AT&T's regional Asia-Pacific group, based in Hong Kong.

Handa says he moved to RateXchange from Asia Capacity Exchange because "RateXchange has the right model and the experienced management team to take advantage of the enormous opportunity within the Asia-Pacific."

Handa studied at the University of Hong Kong and the London School of Economics. He has been in Asia for five years.