Almost one in five European Union households has cut off their landline cables to use a mobile telephone only.
Research from the EU statistical office Eurostat said that up to 18 per cent of households had mobile phone access only last year. Subscriptions for wireless handsets are on the rise, increasing to 95 per 100 habitants in 2005 from eight in 1996.
The study showed that the number of households relying only on a mobile telephone tended to be higher in EU newcomers from central and eastern Europe - 42 per cent in the Czech Republic, compared with 11 per cent in Germany.
The ex-communist countries that joined the EU in 2004 tended to have landline infrastructure that is much less developed than in western Europe.
However, in Finland, 47 per cent of households had mobile phones and no fixed lines.
Fixed-telephone penetration increased to only 48 per 100 habitants in 2005 from 44 in 1996, the study said.
Luxembourg had the highest number of mobile subscriptions per 100 people - 158, followed by Lithuania with 127 and Italy with 122.