RD207 - ETNO Reflection Document on the European Commission Communication on Challenges for the European Information Society beyond 2005

ETNO welcomes the opportunity to provide the European Commission with its views on the future of the Information Society policy beyond 2005.

ETNO believes that despite the dynamism of the industry and the progress made towards the sectoral eEurope targets, in view of the challenges ahead, there is no room for complacency if the EU wishes to successfully achieve the ambitious goals it has set for itself in the Lisbon Strategy. The Information Society is the key driver in the process of making Europe the most successful knowledge-based economy in the world. This is why ETNO wishes to highlight that the promotion of ICT as a key industrial sector and the development of new on-line content and services over the coming five years should be a top priority. However, as the prerequisite for the successful achievement of the Information Society there is a need to further develop the underlying networks. Without the investments needed to develop the next generation networks it will be extremely difficult to provide the whole range of innovative services identified in Commission’s paper. Consequently, ETNO believes that public policy top priority should be to ensure that the investment climate, including the regulatory framework, favours the development of new networks.