(Telecompaper) French telecom group Altice has appointed 25-year telecom industry veteran Michel Combes as group COO in charge of international operations and chairman of cable and wireless operator Numericable-SFR. Combes was most recently CEO of equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent and was previously CEO of Vodafone Europe, chairman and CEO of TDF and CFO and senior executive vice president of France Telecom, now Orange.