Management Team
The key to our success is our seasoned, innovative and expert management team. With solid operating experience in fixed and wireless telecommunications, our team has held senior roles at companies such as American Tower, Bell Atlantic Mobile, Cellular One, Crown Castle, GTE, McCaw Communications, Motorola, National Grid, Nextel Communications, SpectraSite Transco Ltd., and Verizon.
Doug Wiest – President and CEO
Rod Smith - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Leslie Brown – General Counsel
Jim Hanley - General Manager, Services
John DeStefano - Director, Fiber Sales
Abby Harrington – Director, Towers & Development
Rick Predella - Director, Network Operations
Chris Zack - Director, Managed Network Services
Doug Wiest – President and CEO
Doug has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 20 years and in the wireless industry for over 15 years. He previously held senior positions at American Tower, Nextel Communications, McCaw Communications and Pacific Telesis. He has managed all aspects of wireless infrastructure, including site development and maintenance, construction, switch and network engineering, and RF and performance engineering.
Rod Smith – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Rod is a proven leader and an experienced CFO with a track record of success with early-stage companies experiencing phenomenal growth. During his sixteen-year career he has managed fund raising, mergers & acquisitions, finance, accounting, treasury, SEC reporting, taxation, legal, risk management and administration for companies such as Nextel Communications, RoweCom and National Grid.
Leslie Brown – General Counsel
Leslie is responsible for directing Lightower's legal and regulatory affairs. With 14 years as a practicing attorney in the telecommunications industry, Leslie has extensive experience advising clients on telecommunications law, regulation and policy. She also brings a strong background in commercial contract negotiations. Prior to joining Lightower, Leslie served as Vice President of Law and Public Policy for Adelphia Communications' Northeast Region.
Jim Hanley - General Manager, Services
Jim has over 18 years experience in the wireless industry. He is a demonstrated leader, with expertise in sales, marketing, operations, and engineering in successfully growing start-ups as well as Fortune 100 companies. Jim has held management positions at GTE, Cingular, Microsoft, and Nextel Communications.
John DeStefano - Director, Fiber Sales
John has over 25 years experience in the telecommunications industry. He is responsible for Lightower's enterprise and carrier dark fiber sales efforts, as well as development initiatives for the dark fiber group. John has held technical, sales and public affairs management positions at Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone, NYNEX, Bell Atlantic and AT&T Local Services. He received his BS degree in Marketing from Boston College.
Abby Harrington – Director, Towers and Development
Abby has worked in the telecommunications industry for twenty years. She has managed all aspects of site development and operations. Prior to joining National Grid she owned her own site development company specializing in site acquisition, zoning, permitting and project management. She has a diverse background, working on system launches for Nextel, Verizon and Sprint PCS and has held senior positions with entrepreneurial engineering and tower companies focused on operations, business development and customer service.
Rick Predella – Director, Network Operations
Rick Predella has been in the telecommunications industry for over 28 years. As a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he has been involved with the planning, engineering, and construction of Outside Plant fiber optic and copper infrastructure in Massachusetts for most of that time period. He has held various engineering and construction management positions with AT&T Long Lines, New England Telephone, NYNEX and Bell Atlantic where he was in charge of infrastructure planning and construction for Western Massachusetts Exchanges in the (413) area code.
Chris Zack – Director, Managed Network Services
Chris has over ten years of experience in the telecommunications industry with a strong background in designing, modeling and deploying metropolitan area networks for ILEC's, CLEC's, WSP's and private enterprises in the New England region. Prior to joining Lightower, Chris served in multiple roles and capacities within the Bell System, as well as with National Network Technologies, a Lexent company.