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Swedish seniors lead EU in mobile use: report

Published: 16 Feb 10 09:29 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/25014/20100216/

Nearly all Swedish over 65s own and use a mobile phone and are at the forefront of the technology's use in comparison with European counterparts, a new report published on Tuesday shows.

Among Swedish seniors, 91 percent own a mobile phone while in France by contrast only 41 percent do so, according to the study released at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the industry's biggest trade show.

Around 77 percent of British seniors, 74 percent of Americans and 72 percent of Germans have mobile phones, according to research firm Synovate, which surveyed 2,000 people over 65 in five countries between January and February.

The survey was commissioned by Doro, a British company that makes mobile phones with simpler functions and bigger keys for senior citizens.

There is a big gap in mobile phone use between people older than 75 and younger seniors. Nearly 90 percent of people 65 to 74-years-old own a mobile, while only two-thirds of older senior citizens have one.

On average, 56 percent of pensioners pick their mobile phones on their own.
Although few in France own one, of those that do 73 percent choose their own
handsets.

French seniors who own mobile phones use their devices more than others: 96
percent of them have taken or made a call in the past two weeks. This compares
to 85 percent in the United States, 81 percent in Sweden and 73 percent in Britain and Germany.

AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)

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10:24 February 16, 2010 by johnnyrebel
I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that we ban cellphones altogether and go back to the previous era. Picture a senior driving a car talking on a cellphone. Life was so much simpler then.
10:36 February 16, 2010 by Puffin
Mobiles are essential for saftey here - picture sliding of the road or being involved in a moose accident 50km from the nearest town in minus 30C?
12:13 February 16, 2010 by Nemesis
@ johnnyrebel

Very stupid advice.

Swedes are now starting to talk more to there parents and grandparents I have noticed due to the high level of mobile phone penetration ins Sverige.
15:13 February 16, 2010 by johnnyrebel
Thanks Nemesis...i know, I know. There hasnt been much to rag on here at The Local so I just took a chance here. But I sort of do have this nagging vision about the evolution of our species, the human beast that is. I see a computer replacing the head with a cellphone transplanted instead of a hand. Dont you think it a little scary how younger folks are lost without their trusty cellphone. Puffin obviously has a point but it wasnt so long ago that the species had solutions for these situations without the cellphone. Just musing about the longterm ramifications...zzzzzzz...
16:36 February 16, 2010 by GefleFrequentFlyer
Puffin,

But that's how we thin the herd.
18:52 February 16, 2010 by peropaco
It is natural they are ahead of their EU counterpart in mobile usage and it is called hej, I am still alive you know! Since Swedes don't tend to visit their families that much except for midsummer, xmas or a funeral ;people over 65 have to find creative ways to hear a voice on the other side of the road.
16:16 February 19, 2010 by IWP
God alone knows why they bother. The service provision once outside the major population centres, and certainly in the north - esp with Telia - is simply crap.
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