BROADCASTS.com

When Jeff Noto is asked to reflect back on his 35 years with Verizon, he tells us that his earliest years with the company were spent scoring quick returns on investments that Verizon had made inside its fledgling wireless business.

\u201cI always have to chuckle when I think back to how certain people thought that wireless would not be a product for very long,\u201d comments Noto, who notes that being able to demonstrate speedy returns on investments became critical to securing future investments and for building the business case that wireless would someday soon be a viable alternative to \u201cwire line\u201d services.  

\u201cNow, look at things from where we sit today, when everything has been reversed and wireless now provides the main means for communication\u2014that is, at least from the perspective of from the handset to the tower,\u201d observes Noto, who would climb the ranks at Verizon as an FP&A executive to eventually serve in steady succession of business unit CFO roles.

Asked why\u2014after 35 years with other duties\u20142023 became the right time to step into a CFO role, Noto replies: \u201cIt was just a funny intersection where all things came together after the world had turned during my very long career with Verizon.\u201d

For Noto, it was time to look beyond the \u201chandset to tower\u201d space and all of the other familiar communications pathways.

\u201cFrom there, it becomes all about fiber-optics\u2014and that\u2019s what we do at Zayo,\u2019 continues Noto, drawing our attention to his recent CFO appointment at the fiber-optics and network infrastructure company.

Says Noto: \u201cI don\u2019t know that there could have been a company other than Zayo that I would have left Verizon for\u2014this is a great opportunity.\u201d

No doubt this is a blush-worthy compliment, yet\u2014coming from someone with 35 years at a single company\u2014many of us are inclined to take Noto at his word. \u2013Jack Sweeney