Speculation continues to hot up over Michel Combes’ rumoured appointment at cable-to-mobile group Altice, with Alcatel-Lucent’s outgoing CEO reportedly set to take over as director of operations worldwide from 1 September.

According to French daily newspaper Le Figaro, Combes’ appointment will come on the same day that he is due to leave Alcatel-Lucent, after the French vendor confirmed his September departure date in July.

Patrick Drahi, Altice’s largest shareholder, will also vacate his position as Numericable-SFR president and hand the reins over to Combes, who will oversee a period of restructuring at the company, according to the publication.

Combes is on the move after confirming he would leave Alcatel-Lucent shortly after news broke of Nokia’s proposed €15.6 billion takeover of the French vendor earlier this year.

France’s Challenges magazine first reported a link between Combes and Altice in June, claiming a deal was in place to bring him in to lead the company’s telecoms development in Europe.

Altice beefed up its European telecoms operation this past year after acquiring assets in Portugal Telecom and taking control of French mobile player SFR.