The European Commission has said it is putting high-speed internet access at the top of its strategy to boost e-commerce and turn the European Union into the world's most competitive economy by 2010.

By promoting broadband, the EU's executive is choosing to focus on a product already available to businesses and consumers and putting on the back burner its strategy for third-generation mobile phones, whose commercial launch may not come until 2005.

Although competition was driving internet connection costs down, European Information Society Commissioner Mr Erkki Liikanen said broadband remained generally expensive in the EU, where fast internet penetration was only 6 per cent.

"To be connected to the internet is not enough, we have to look at the quality of the connection," Mr Liikanen told a news conference as he presented an assessment on EU progress in information technology and e-commerce. "From now on, broadband will be the key issue," he said.

Data released by GartnerG2 in February showed broadband penetration in EU households was only around 2-3 per cent against 13 per cent in the United States.

The Commission will present its strategy on the e-economy at an EU summit in Barcelona on March 13-14th for leaders to adopt it.