Brussels, 14/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - The "laissez faire" policy in the telecoms sector is hindering competition and investment, says ECTA. The association, which represents new operators, has called on the European Commission to create a policy which focuses more on innovation and growth throughout the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and to deal more firmly with protectionism on the part of the member states. The latest biannual report by ECTA, which is put together by the SPC Network consultancy, stresses that broadband uptake has been too slow and competition has stagnated within all 27 member states. According to the experts, businesses need economies which are open to competition, which does not stifle the emergence of newcomers as a result of the strategic behaviour of the historic operators, which are exploiting the gaps in the too-lax rules. The statistics on broadband access show great disparities between the member states, the Scandinavian countries in the Netherlands showing very good results whilst Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria continue to lag behind. The most worrying fact is that broadband uptake in these last member states has actually slowed down, increasing the gap between the two groups instead of plugging it, states the ECTA. Furthermore, the market share for the historic operators has increased to an average of 45.5%. It is particularly high in countries which followed a deregulation policy such as Austria and Malta, or in certain major economies such as France. Although Germany and Spain have put an end to the "regulatory holidays" of the historic operators, the figures still do not indicate any major deployment of optic fibre in these countries. Sweden remains top of this particular table, with 7.5% of its population enjoying ultra-fast access, compared to a European average of 0.4%. (I.L./transl.fl)