Greece government has promised to promote broadband services in the country by attracting more new investments and deregulating the market, local media reported on Wednesday.

Addressing at a conference entitled "the dynamism of broadband in the Mediterranean" opened here in Athens on Tuesday, Greek Transport and Communications Minister Mihalis Liapis stressed the need for a healthy and fair competition and to promoting a deregulation of the market in infrastructure and network services.

"We need policies to support investments in research and development of new technologies along with measures to boost demand of broadband services," Liapis noted.

The minister said the government was in the final stages of an ambitious plan, worth 210 million euros, to promote broadband in the country, by offering to cover 50 percent of the program.

He noted that the government's policy aimed to covering up to 60 percent of the country's geographic regions by 2008, from 13 percent currently.

Liapis also underlined the need for cooperation between Mediterranean countries.

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization's chairman and chief executive Panagis Vourloumis promised that OTE, Greece's largest broadband service provider, plans to invest 946 million euros to expand its network and broadband services over the next three years.

He disclosed that broadband services in Greece totaled 250,000, accounting for 2.5 percent of the total population, compared to 45, 000 in 2004 and 150,000 in 2005.

He is confident that the broadband users are expected to total 500,000 by the end of 2006 and to one million connections at the end of 2007.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and EU Commissioner Viviane Reding sent messages to the conference stressing the significance of broadband services to European consumers.

Source: Xinhua