The CEGETEL and TELECOM DEVELOPPEMENT group have announced the merger of their land line businesses. The SNCF - SOCIETE NATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FER controls 50.1% of TELECOM DEVELOPPEMENT and 49.9% of the company is controlled by CEGETEL. The new entity created by the merger is called CEGETEL SA and will be up and running October. 35% of it will be controlled by the SNCF and 65% by the CEGETEL group. Expected turnover for this year is EUR 1.4 bio with a workforce of 2000.