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Boys love games, girls love ringtones

But neither gives a hoot for 3G

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Downloads to mobile phones show a sharp division between the sexes with men going for games and women preferring ringtones.

Men, or should it be boys, are far more likely to download games: 58 per cent of people who have downloaded a game in the last three months are men. But women make up the majority of ringtones downloaded - they are responsible for just over half of the 5.9m ringtones downloaded. 60 - 70 per cent of people downloading ringtones are under 34.

Only 2.7 per cent of respondents are using 3G services. This is a big increase from just over one per cent in the last quarter of 2003. Worse news for the operators is the finding that less than 40 per cent of consumers with a 3G handset actually use it for 3G services. Men make up 67 per cent of 3G users and seven per cent of all users are between 18 and 24.

The Mobile Media Monitor was carried out by ICM on behalf of Enpocket. Researchers talked to 1,000 people by phone in April 2004. ®

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