// Arrange the data
    $db = Application_Model_Db::db_load();
    $sql = "select telephonecode, concat(countryname, '(',telephonecode,')' ) from sh_timezone";
    $result = $db->fetchPairs($sql);
    //$result = array_merge(array(''=>''), $result);
    $result = array_merge_recursive( array(''=>'') , $result);
    Zend_Debug::dump($result);


Output:
<pre>array(3) {
  [""] => string(0) ""
  [0] => string(11) "Belgium(32)"
  [1] => string(14) "Nederlands(31)"
}
</pre>



Expecting as:
<pre>array(3) {
  [""] => string(0) ""
  [32] => string(11) "Belgium(32)"
  [31] => string(14) "Nederlands(31)"
}
</pre>