HTML table rowspan or colspan issue?

We need to design a webpage layout. Using table we can divide layout into six zones (cells) as shown below:

ZONE 1 ZONE 2 ZONE 3

ZONE 4 ZONE 5 ZONE 6

Now, it is possible to merge ZONE 2, ZONE 5 and ZO开发者_如何学GoNE 6? We need to use DIV?

See: Why tables for layout is stupid

Use CSS instead.

I'm not 100%, but it sounds like a job for CSS. Why do you want tables?

(Is it crucial that Zone 1 & Zone 3 have equal height?)