Brussels, 25/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - High-ranking representatives of 16 telecoms operators in the new EU Member States and candidate countries met European Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding and European Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner, on Thursday evening at a reception organised by ETNO - European Telecommunications Network Operators. The operators urged the Commission to support long-term investment and cut the digital divide between old and new Member States and candidate countries. The latter lag behind in terms of internet connections (13 users per 100 households, compared with 40 per 100 in the old Member States) and the number of landlines: 37 per 100 inhabitants in the new Member States, compared with 52.14 in the old Member States. Commissioner Reding expressed her desire to ensure all citizens benefited from the Information Society, including citizens in the new Member States, to ensure they make the most of convergent technology, electronic communications infrastructure and media content for economic growth, competitiveness, jobs and social inclusion. Commissioner Danuta Hübner said the EU must increase its efforts to help the new Member States catch up through investment in new technology. With enlargement of the EU, she said, support must now focus even more on the poorest regions and Member States. Effective investment in this field will provide the opportunity for increasing production and productivity throughout the EU. She said key competition factors like innovation, research and access to broad band would be the Commission's priorities. Telecom industry representatives said a new approach was required for legislation, with the current short-term disciplinary-based policy being replaced by a longer-term approach to foster further investment and new services, stressing the importance of private sector investment in the creation of infrastructure for broadband services. Such investment will not be sufficient in itself, they pointed out, requiring help from the European Union and the Cohesion Fund in order to ensure development in the poorest regions.