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Telecom number governance platform Telesmart has appointed Carl Roberts as Chairman of its Board as the London-based company looks to accelerate growth and expand its reach across the global communications market.
Roberts brings more than 30 years of experience in international wholesale telecommunications to the role, having previously served as Group Vice President at Verizon Business and most recently as Chief Commercial Officer at Epsilon.
A platform play for number governance
Telesmart provides a system of record for telecom numbers and communication identifiers. The platform acts as a central point of governance and control across number inventory, lifecycle, ownership, routing and compliance for carriers, CPaaS providers and service providers operating across multiple markets, operators and suppliers.
The appointment comes as the company scales its platform to support Tier 1 carriers, emerging and digital service providers and CPaaS providers worldwide.
Roberts pointed to the growing demand for programmable communications as a key driver behind the company’s trajectory, while noting that number operations across the industry remain fragmented and operationally complex.
“Telesmart has proven it can serve the demands of Tier 1 carriers through to agile challengers and CPaaS providers,” Roberts explained. “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.”
Bridging operations and software-driven services
Neil Kitcher, CEO and Founder of Telesmart, highlighted the strategic rationale behind the appointment.
“Carl understands both the operational reality of telecom and the direction the industry is heading,” Kitcher observed. “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.”
The telecom industry’s shift toward software-defined services and programmable infrastructure has placed new demands on how numbers are managed. Traditional approaches to number governance have typically involved fragmented systems and manual processes, creating operational risk and compliance challenges as providers expand into new markets.
Centralising number lifecycle management
Telesmart’s platform addresses these challenges by centralising visibility across number estates, automating provisioning and validating numbers before execution. The company positions itself as enabling customers to reduce operational risk, maintain compliance and manage number operations with consistency across multi-market deployments.
The platform supports regulatory workflows and provides operational control that the company argues is increasingly necessary as telecom providers navigate a patchwork of compliance requirements across different jurisdictions.
Roberts will provide strategic oversight as the company pursues its growth strategy, with a focus on expanding its reach across the global communications ecosystem.
With the appointment, Telesmart is signalling its intent to move from a niche governance tool to a broader platform play, targeting providers that need to simplify operations and build more scalable, well-governed services as the industry continues to evolve.
Last Updated on May 14, 2026 by Nick Ross
