Forty-one percent of people in their 60s living in the Tokyo metropolitan area have mobile phones and many also use mobile e-mail and special ringing melodies, according to a survey released Thursday by NTT DoCoMo Inc.
The survey, conducted in April and May, involved 984 people in their 60s. The 41 percent is far above the 25 percent of elementary and junior high school students with mobile phones, it said.
Forty-seven percent of men and 36 percent of women in their 60s are cellphone users. Of 300 respondents, 70 percent said they mostly use their handsets to talk with their spouses, and 63 percent said with their children. They also said they use the devices for business.
Their average monthly phone bill was 5,100 yen, higher than that of the students' 3,700 yen.
Mobile phone e-mail use is 17 percent and special ringing melodies 24 percent in the 60s age group. Many choose melodies from songs by such pop groups as Southern All Stars and SMAP, NTT DoCoMo said. But numerous users complained their phones have too many functions and asked for more user-friendly devices with larger text and buttons.