**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting merger and acquisition news from August.**

Sonus Networks has completed its merger with Genband, creating a $745 million company focused on next-generation communications networking.

Ribbon Communications’ Ray Dolan

Also, Sonus now is conducting business as Ribbon Communications.

The combined company will have increased scale and market reach across products, customers and coverage area. It is expected to save $40-$50 million in 2018 operating costs and drive solid cash flow from operations in the first year after closing.

“Today is a tremendous day as we bring together two companies that have been at the forefront of real-time communications into a single, unified entity focused on serving our customers and moving the industry forward,” said Ray Dolan, Ribbon’s president and CEO. “Our new name offers a fresh start and embodies our ambition to build one of the largest, most innovative, dedicated and secure global real-time communications organizations on the market. In today’s complexly woven world, we deliver the secure, immersive, contextual experiences that enhance our lives.”

The merger combines Sonus’ software-based position in real-time communication virtualization, cloud-based SIP and 4G/voice-over LTE offerings and security initiatives with Genband’s network modernization, UC, mobility and embedded communications offerings. Together, the combined company will sell in 27 countries.

“With humans more connected in so many different ways than ever before, the real-time communications we rely on must become a more comprehensive, engaging and all-encompassing experience,” Dolan said. “Additionally, the new Ribbon Communications name reflects the unparalleled suite of real-time communications software solutions that the combined company brings to the market. Ribbon Communications is ready to deliver the flexibility, security and stability that today’s digital life requires, enabling better business outcomes.”

In their latest blog, Patrick Joggerst, Genband’s chief marketing officer and executive vice president of business development, and Bita Milanian, senior vice president of global marketing, said the name Ribbon has the “softness and flexibility that today’s digital experiences demand.”

“It’s the thread that binds us all together, the secure connectivity that supports and informs our new way of working and living,” they said. “It’s agile and flexible, lives at the endpoints and ties them together. It’s the new way of secure, embedded real-time communications.”