Team

Meet Our Executive Team

We believe that our deep experience in building AND operating hyperscale telecom networks is critical to delivering integrated, world-class solutions to the ever increasing demands of our customers. Metro Optic is managed by an executive team with significant operating experience serving a global customer base.

Michael Bucheit

General Manager

Michael has over 20 years of executive level experience in the internet infrastructure industry. Prior to his role as CEO of Metro Optic and ICE Datacenters, which was acquired by Cologix, he was CEO of FiberMedia Group, a multi-regional data center provider in the Northeast, Midwest and the UK which was acquired by Vxchnge. Prior to FiberMedia, Michael was responsible for business development at Consonus Technologies, a leading provider of internet infrastructure in the Southeast and West. Michael also spent six years at GE Capital in Stamford, CT, where he built and managed a $70 million IT infrastructure and services business.

Philippe Girard

Vice President, Network Engineering and Operations

Philippe has been working in the telecom industry for the past 20+ years in a variety of technical and managerial roles. He is well versed on all aspects of designing and building high capacity networks as well as delivering mission critical services to the most demanding customers across multiple geographies. He started as network tech at Cable Axion and Cable VDN, passing through enterprise network operations, to managing provisioning and architecture design with MTO Telecom. He also spent several years with Cogeco Peer1 as NOC & Field services manager and network architect before joining the Metro Optic team. Phil lives and breathes customer satisfaction!

Simon Vanasse

Vice President, Channel Sales

In his role as Sales leader, Simon manages a business development team focused on delivering hyperscale network solutions to companies ranging from digital start-ups to the largest, most discerning global cloud providers. Prior to joining Metro Optic, Simon held a variety of senior business development roles with Canadian service providers who either provided large scale digital infrastructure or developed solutions assisting enterprises in their digital transformation towards distributed computing and Cloud platforms. Mr. Vanasse holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a Master’s degree in Management from the University of Ottawa.

Clifford Reid

Vice President, Finance & Controller

Clifford has been a professional accountant for over 30 years after receiving his Accounting degree from Concordia University. He has 15+ years of financial leadership experience as Controller and Finance Director in both public and private enterprises across several growth industries. As Metro Optic’s Vice President of Finance and Controller he oversees the Finance & Accounting functions and leads the M&A process. He has deep experience in managing the due diligence process for both acquisitions and partnerships, developing pricing strategies and implementing multi-year capital expenditure plans. He co-lead the successful implementation of Oracle Financials in a public company and coached cross-functional teams on finance related topics.

Cathy Lavoie

Director, Business Development and Talent Management

Cathy has over 20 years of experience in the tech. world. She worked for several years at Disque Améric Inc., a manufacturer of CDs and DVDs where she held various positions in accounting, customer service and account management. In the same location, COLO-D Inc., which is now part of Cologix Canada Inc was established and Cathy got her foot in the door of the Data Center world. She witnessed the transformation of the Colo-D facilities into a large-scale hyperscale data center and held a position as Manager of Accounting and Employee Experience for 4 years. In 2019, she joined the Metro Optic team, which is part of the same large group. She also serves as the Manager of Personal Information Protection.

Thomas Rivington

Vice President - Fiber Infrastructure

A seasoned Canadian telecom executive and entrepreneur, Tom's focus is developing massively scalable fiber solutions for Metro Optic through acquisitions and targeted network builds. In 2003, he co-founded Aernet Wireless, one of Atlantic Canada’s first residential fixed wireless internet providers. After the sale of Aernet in 2008, Tom co-founded F6 Networks to provide dark and lit fibre solutions to large enterprises, government and hyperscalers. As CEO he built F6 into the leading independent fiber provider in Atlantic Canada. Following the 2020 acquisition of F6 by Xplore, he held the position of VP Business Development for Eastern Canada at XCI. An innovator and strategist, Tom is always looking to push the telecom edge to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Andrew Gunn

Vice President, Wholesale & Enterprise

Andrew is responsible for developing new markets and customer segments in North America. He has strong knowledge of the north American telecom and cloud service provider landscape and understands the need for hyperscale fiber infrastructure to serve this market. Andrew started his professional career in the fashion industry where he rapidly advanced into various senior sales exec roles. With a keen interest in the dynamic world of telecom, he subsequently joined a large Canadian internet service provider where he spent five years building and solidifying partnerships with local and international carriers, datacenter providers and MSPs. Andrew loves to connect and create value by establishing and nurturing professional relationships across the evolving digital infrastructure industry.