MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - A survey conducted in January by a national pollster found that mobile phone penetration had reached 60%, up 4% on the previous month.

Romir Monitoring, a Russian national opinion research center, found that the highest proportion of cell phone users was in the Siberian Federal District (66%).

According to the poll, 47% of residents in rural areas had cell phones, while in cities with populations over a million, the figure rose to 72%.

Men are more active mobile users than women (64% compared to 57%). Among pensioners, the figure was 20%.

Penetration has seen a significant rise from the February 2004 of 25%.

According to Romir Monitoring experts, some 70 million adult Russians now use mobile communications.

A total of 1,600 respondents aged from 18 in more than 100 Russian cities and villages took part in the survey. The margin of statistical error is 2.5%.