Brussels, 18/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - Sixty four million people now have broadband access across the 25 Member States of the European Union but the gap between the best and worst performers is widening, according to the latest Broadband Scorecard, published by the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA). Overall penetration is up by 9% over the previous quarter, with an additional 5.5 million lines. Denmark is top of all Member States, with broadband penetration of nearly 30%, while Greece stands at just 2%. The poorly scoring countries are, according to ECTA, not growing quickly enough to catch up. ECTA director general, Steen Clausen, says that the reason for this is simple, a lack of competition and choice. In a press release he states, “Countries that are performing relatively well, such as Denmark and the UK, have taken action to ensure there is choice and competition, while broadband access in laggard countries such as Greece and Ireland is still to large extent dominated by the former state-owned incumbents”. ECTA is calling on the group of European regulators, due to meet up in October, to ensure coherent application of regulations across Europe in an effort to reduce the gap between the best and worst countries having broadband access. The study is available on: (http//http://www.ectaportal.com/en/basic245.html ).