9:20 AM -- Outgoing Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) chairman Serge ("The Merge") Tchuruk told French newspaper Le Figaro that he expects the new CEO and chairman to be appointed "very quickly" and that the vendor's board would have to be reshuffled to "get its own personality." (See Russo, Tchuruk Out at Alcatel-Lucent and Is AlcaLu Seeking a New CEO?)

Tchuruk didn't let the cat out of the bag, but said that, "Knowledge of the telecoms business will be vital as management will have to be operational immediately."

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that former BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) CEO Ben Verwaayen had turned down an offer to take the top job at AlcaLu. Verwaayen was considered the frontrunner to replace outgoing CEO Patricia Russo. Most of the potential candidates named in media reports are French, but The Wall Street Journal also adds to the list Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) COO Stephen Burke. (See AlcaLu CEO Search Update, Who Will Replace Russo?, and Burke Sizes Up Telcos, Content Opportunities .)

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading