Datta leaves his role as chief operating officer for AboveNet Communications for the position and he will report directly into Carl Grivner who takes on the role of Colt CEO at the beginning of next year.
“We are delighted that Rajiv has decided to join us at such an important point in Colt’s ongoing journey,” Grivner said.
“His track record of transforming business performance speaks for itself and, as we looking to Colt’s future, this will be invaluable in creating the levels of focus, speed and innovation that we need.”
During his time at AboveNet, Datta was responsible for the day-to-day management of company sales, marketing, service delivery, network management, IT and infrastructure.
He was also instrumental in transforming the company from a carrier-centric fibre infrastructure firm into an enterprise-focussed, high bandwidth data service provider, growing its annual revenue from $190 million to $500 million during his tenure.
