Spotlight on our people: Meet Gary, our new Technical Director

Meet Gary Feetham, our new Technical Director, bringing 35 years of telecoms experience, data centre design expertise and a true passion for fibre.

What really distinguishes Altnets is the individuals who are behind the business. This month, we're shining the spotlight on Gary Feetham, who has recently stepped into the role of Technical Director following Leigh Buckwell's move to procurement as the business grows. Gary's project leadership, experience and knowledge make him the perfect fit for the role.

Gary has been in the telecommunications industry for 35 years, starting out with Encom (which has merged into Liberty Global and Virgin UK), originally as a field engineer installing analogue cable. Since then, he's acted as consultant for the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia, working on both the vertical city project 'The Line'- a 170km long smart city which eliminates cars, streets and carbon emissions - and the Sindalah Project, a luxury island project set to develop and operate a marina to accommodate super yachts Gary was able to use his telecoms knowledge and problem-solving abilities across both projects to find solutions and move operations along to produce successful results for the clients.

Gary also brings direct experience working with data centres to Altnets, and holds a CDCDP (Certified Data Centre Design Professional) accreditation from Uptime. He will be supporting Altnets' expansion into the market through his first-hand experience of what data centre customers need, as well as building upon Altnets' strong telecoms expertise.

Fibre remains Gary's true passion, with a particular interest in and extensive knowledge of its technology. While working as a technician, he was taught by a trusted colleague on the job about fibre's technicalities, learning what the equipment was and why it was being used while actively building networks, which set his knowledge levels above many of his peers. He's built upon this by undertaking various courses throughout the years, completing training to become a certified Fibre Optic Specialist, Certified Optical Network Expert and Associate, and a Certified Fibre Characterisation Engineer. He has also earned distinctions in City and Guilds Design and Planning qualifications. Outside of the office, Gary continues in his previous hands-on work with DIY projects, and is a follower of F1 after building and operating Formula Ford race cars in a previous role with a local racing team.

Gary is looking forward to sharing his experience and knowledge with the rest of the team. "The reason I joined Altnets was to help them in their global growth and support them to develop the consultancy side of the business in the best way I can. Everyone on the team is really enthusiastic, and when I came in for the interview a few months ago, the atmosphere in the office felt great. Everyone seemed to be smiling and enjoying work, and I really wanted to be a part of that."

Looking toward the future

Altnets is continuing on an exciting journey of expansion and innovation. Major projects are in the pipeline, further expanding our roots in the data centre and FTTx sectors, and Gary's role will continue to bring fresh approaches to assist companies locally and globally. His technical expertise will guarantee that Altnets keeps pushing beyond limits, providing outstanding customer service, and having a significant impact on all the sectors we work in.

Altnets are continuing to grow, and we're excited to share more of our latest developments with you very soon.