BRUSSELS, April 27 (Xinhua) -- More Europeans are switching from fixed line to mobile phones and from narrowband to broadband Internet connections, according to a survey released by the European Commission Friday.

The survey showed that 22 percent of EU households use only mobile phones, up from 18 percent a year ago, while the proportion of households with at least one fixed line decreased by 5 percent to 72 percent, although the percentage of households with at least one mobile phone remains fairly stable at 81 percent.

Broadband is presenting a rapid upward trend in the EU, showed the survey, which polled 27,000 households across the union. Twenty-eight percent of households are now connected to the Internet via high-speed "broadband" links, up six percent from last year, while narrowband usage has dipped by three percentage points to 12 percent. More than half of households access the Internet via an ADSL line and 34 percent of broadband connections are wireless.

"Europe's digital economy is growing strongly as more and more households embrace convergence between fixed, mobile and internet services," said EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding.

"The challenge of this year's reform of the EU's telecom rules will be to respond to this rapidly changing technological environment while enhancing at the same time effective competition," she said.

Meanwhile, nearly 20 percent of Europeans buy two or more telecom products from a single service provider, the combination of fixed telephony and internet access being the most common.

The result may strengthen the commission's case for breaking up telecom giants, whose control over the fixed line networks was accused of hindering competition.

"Today's survey findings will feed into the ongoing public debate on the reform of the EU telecom rules, planned for summer this year," said Reding.