Altice (AMS:ATC) has announced that Michel Combes is its new chief operating officer and chairman of its French subsidiary Numericable-SFR.
Altice (AMS:ATC) has announced that Michel Combes is its new chief operating officer and chairman of its French subsidiary Numericable-SFR.
One of the biggest names in European telecoms, Combes said that “Altice’s long- term strategy and global ambitions are the right challenge for me in this dynamic era of consolidation, convergence and technological disruption”.
Combes left his role as CEO of Alcatel-Lucent earlier this year after engineering the sale of the vendor to Nokia. He has previously been CEO of Vodafone Europe, chairman and CEO of TDF, and CFO at France Telecom.
Combes is also a long-term associate of Patrick Drahi, Altice’s founder and controlling shareholder. The two were classmates at École Polytechnique.
Drahi said : “I am very pleased that Michel, whom I have known for over 20 years, has decided to join us to help structure the group’s operations and to harmonise our best practices throughout our subsidiaries and countries.
“The group will continue to attract key talent to help manage our rapid expansion in both Europe and the Americas whilst maintaining our unique entrepreneurial mindset,” Drahi added.