Insights

Somos, Inc. Announces New Hire of Telecom Veteran Mary Retka as Senior Director, Industry Relations

Apr 26, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HERNDON, VA, May 1, 2017 – Somos, Inc., the leading provider of neutral toll-free numbering and database administration services for the telecommunications industry, today announced the hiring of Mary Retka as their Senior Director – Industry Relations reporting to Ann Berkowitz, Somos’ SVP, Chief Administrative Officer – Administration and Strategic Policy.  Ms. Retka’s responsibilities include representing Somos in key industry and technology groups and enhancing strategic alliances.

“Mary brings to Somos truly exceptional experience as an industry leader in public and network policy.  The addition of Mary to our team will undoubtedly strengthen the future of Somos and the evolving telecom industry,” said Gina Perini, Somos’ President and Chief Executive Officer. "As the nation moves to IP-based networks, the role of trusted, neutral registries to ensure data integrity becomes critically important. Somos is uniquely positioned to provide this essential service, and Mary's proven leadership and expertise will advance both Somos and those we serve." 

Ms. Retka brings to Somos over 40 years of telecommunications experience and a broad background in network growth and industry expansion, operational standards, and telecom numbering.  She most recently served as Executive Director – Network Policy for CenturyLink where she held numerous industry leadership roles including on the FCC’s North American Numbering Council, the ATIS Testbeds Focus Group, and the FCC Communication Security Reliability, and Interoperability Council.  Ms. Retka holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from South Dakota State University and earned an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Business.

"Somos is a great organization that I am very excited to join.  Somos' work is such an important part of the industry as we address emerging issues and the changes ahead as the telecommunications infrastructure and systems continue the evolution into the IP environment.  Representing Somos in the industry organizations is an opportunity that I greatly value, as I do the chance to become part of the diverse and growing Somos organization,” Ms. Retka stated.

About Somos, Inc. 

Somos provides trusted, neutral numbering and registry administration services to enable Toll-Free service providers, service registrars, routing database providers and SCPs. Somos operates the SMS/800 Toll-Free voice registry for administration and routing data for all Toll-Free Numbers in the North American Numbering Plan, as authorized by the Federal Communications Commission. Somos also operates the Texting and Smart Services Registry, the centralized registry for administration and routing data for Toll-Free messaging and multimedia services. Additional information is available at www.somos.com.

Media Contact: 

Michelle Larsen 
Vice President, Customer Engagement 
mlarsen@somos.com