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The Future of Optical Networking: Ribbon Communications Lands Industry Veteran Sam Bucci to Drive Growth of Packet Optical Networks Business

Ribbon Communications Inc. named Sam Bucci as Executive Vice President & General Manager of their Packet Optical Networks division, picked up with the company’s acquisition of ECI Telecom, which closed last March. ECI Telecom Group was a global provider of end-to-end packet-optical transport and SDN/NFV solutions for service providers, enterprises, and data center operators, and is now integrated with Ribbon, advancing Ribbon’s strategy of expanding into the service provider 5G data domain with bundled network analytics, intelligence and security offerings.

The combination also enables Ribbon to significantly increase its scale, total addressable market and global footprint in service provider networks, enterprises, and critical infrastructure companies, such as utilities and data center operators. In addition, the merger allows Ribbon to expand its relationships with fixed and mobile service providers, while also enabling the company to quickly capitalize on the high-growth 5G market with ECI’s market-ready solutions.

Bucci has 30 years of experience in the communications sector and most recently lead the optical business unit for Nokia, managing a multi-billion-dollar business unit and leading a global team. Prior to his tenure at Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, Bucci spent several years at Nortel Networks’ optical business unit in various senior product management, sales and business development roles. He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree with distinction from McGill University in Canada.

"I am thrilled to join Ribbon during this exciting period for the packet optical market," said Bucci. "Ribbon’s recent acquisition of ECI Telecom, combined with the renewed energy and great leadership Bruce is providing, creates a clear path for Ribbon to be a disruptive force in the market. I am excited to be a part of these efforts and look forward to supporting the strategy."

“I am very excited to welcome Sam to the Ribbon leadership team,” said Bruce McClelland, Ribbon Communications Chief Executive Officer. “He is a perfect fit to help us execute on both our short-term and long-term strategy of establishing Ribbon as a force in the global data communications industry. Sam is a thoughtful technology and business leader who has successfully built and executed multi-year strategies focused on taking advantage of technical and commercial discontinuities to deliver differentiated offerings and gain market share in a complex, competitive operating environment. His outstanding reputation and impressive track record will be a significant addition to the Ribbon leadership team.”

McClelland added, “Sam’s experience and leadership guiding optical product development teams over the last 15 years will be a great asset for Ribbon as we continue supporting our customers in building out their networks to meet the explosive demand for bandwidth anticipated by the deployment of next generation 5G technology.”

Arti Loftus is an experienced Information Technology specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the research, writing, and editing industry with many published articles under her belt.

Edited by Maurice Nagle