BSS: The high-level committee to review three state-owned telephone companies has recommended merger of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, keeping TeleTalk as a government subsidiary.

The 10-member committee, headed post and telecommunications secretary Sunil Kanti Bose, was formed to review the existing conditions of the three companies in the public sector and make recommendations for making those profitable.

Sources in the telecommunications ministry said the committee held a number of meetings, reviewed existing rules and regulations and manpower as well as institutional and financial strengths of the companies, and finalised recommendations.

According to the review, the incomes of the BTCL, the largest land phone operator, have come down substantially against its expenditures. The committee has recommended some of the initiatives to make it profitable.