Darryl Edwards departs Ribbon following merger with ECI Telecom

Ribbon Communications Inc., a global provider of real time communications software and network solutions to service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure sectors, has announced that the President and CEO of ECI Telecom Ltd. ("ECI"), Darryl Edwards, has departed Ribbon at the end of April as planned.

Since the completion of the combination of Ribbon and ECI on March 3, 2020, Edwards has been an advisor to Bruce McClelland, CEO and President of Ribbon.

Edwards joined ECI in June 2012, with the goal of re-establishing ECI's reputation for innovation and breaking boundaries in the telecommunications industry.

Under his leadership, ECI has made significant investments in research and development and refreshed its product portfolio with new packet and optical product lines, making the transition to software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV).

"We're immensely grateful for the great work that Darryl has done in cementing ECI's place as an innovation leader in the packet and optical networking space," said Mr. McClelland. "We are now very focused on executing on our strategy to significantly scale the ECI business by leveraging the strong foundation that Ribbon has with major Service Providers and Enterprise customers around the world, particularly as we enter the 5G networking era."

"It has been a great pleasure to lead ECI for the past eight years. During this time, the industry has changed dramatically, and so did ECI," added Edwards. "When I became CEO of ECI, we had to re-assert ECI's innovation and put it back at the heart of the company. We've since become a pioneer in the industry, supporting a large number of customers, helping them realize their ambitions with our unique elastic network philosophy and approach. The merger with Ribbon is a natural and positive next step for ECI as it looks to continue to expand its global presence."

Ribbon Communications, which recently merged with ECI Telecom Group, delivers global communications software and network solutions to service providers, enterprises and critical infrastructure sectors.

Ribbon egages deeply with its customers, helping them modernize their networks for improved competitive positioning and business outcomes in today's smart, always-on and data-hungry world.