Telesmart appoints Carl Roberts as chairman for growth

Telesmart has appointed Carl Roberts as chairman of its board as the telecom number governance company pursues global expansion.

Roberts brings more than 30 years of experience in international wholesale and has held senior executive and board roles across the telecom and technology sectors. He previously served as group vice president at Verizon Business and was most recently chief commercial officer at Epsilon.

His appointment adds a senior industry figure to the board as Telesmart looks to broaden its reach among large carriers, digital service providers and communications platform businesses. Roberts will provide strategic oversight and support the company's international go-to-market expansion.

Telesmart sells software to manage and govern telecom numbers and other communications identifiers. Its platform is designed to serve as a central record for number inventory, lifecycle, ownership, routing and compliance, and is used across multiple markets, operators and suppliers.

Telecom and cloud communications companies face growing operational demands as messaging, voice and programmable communications services expand across borders. Number management has become a more prominent issue for operators and service providers because of regulatory obligations, provisioning requirements and the need to track assets across different systems.

Roberts pointed to those pressures in outlining the market backdrop for the business.

"Telesmart has proven it can serve the demands of Tier 1 carriers through to agile challengers and CPaaS providers," said Carl Roberts, chairman of the board at Telesmart. "Demand for programmable communications is growing rapidly, but number operations remain fragmented and operationally complex. Telesmart gives customers a single place to govern and control their number estate, making it easier to scale services, meet compliance requirements and unlock value from those assets."

Telesmart describes its product as a system of record for telecom numbers, giving customers tighter oversight of number inventory and related workflows. That includes governance over ownership, routing and compliance checks before numbers move into execution.

Growth plans

The board change comes as Telesmart seeks to grow beyond its current base and expand its presence in international communications markets. It is scaling its platform to support Tier 1 carriers as well as newer service providers and CPaaS groups operating worldwide.

Companies in this segment are under pressure to reduce manual processes while maintaining compliance across jurisdictions. A platform that centralises visibility over numbering assets can help operators and service providers avoid duplication, strengthen internal controls and maintain better records across suppliers and regions.

Chief executive and founder Neil Kitcher said Roberts' background aligns with the operational and strategic issues facing the sector.

"Carl understands both the operational reality of telecom and the direction the industry is heading," said Neil Kitcher, chief executive officer and founder of Telesmart. "As services become more software-driven, the way numbers are managed has to change. Bringing Carl on as chairman strengthens our strategic direction as we scale the platform, support our customers and accelerate growth in key markets."

Roberts' experience at Verizon Business and Epsilon gives Telesmart board-level knowledge of international carrier operations and wholesale markets. That background is likely to prove relevant as the company targets larger customers that need oversight of numbering resources across several countries and supplier networks.

The telecom numbering market is often less visible than areas such as cloud communications or network infrastructure, but it sits at the core of service activation and compliance. Carriers and communications providers must manage inventories of numbers and identifiers accurately to launch services, enter new markets and meet regulatory requirements.

Telesmart's platform is aimed at that operational layer, where providers need to validate numbers, maintain authorised records and manage workflows tied to provisioning and regulation. The system is intended to give operators and service providers control over multi-market deployments and support consistent processes across different external partners.

Its growth strategy now centres on extending that model across the global communications market with Roberts as chairman. Telesmart plans to continue investing in the platform while expanding its reach across carriers, CPaaS providers and other service providers that need stronger governance of telecom number assets.