More and more people are being asked to be buried with their mobile phone

29 March 2006 12:37 GMT / By Stuart Miles

More and more people are being asked to be buried with their mobile phone, just in case they need to make one last call in the afterlife according to a report on the BBC.

The trend, which began in South Africa, has now spread to a number of countries, including Ireland, Australia, Ghana, and the US.

Martin Raymond, director of international trend-spotting think-tank, The Future Laboratory told the BBC that this had started off "in the realm of the urban myth", but was fast becoming fact.

"You hear about it, the idea that people are being buried with their mobile phones, but you can't really believe it", he told the BBC World Service's Culture Shock programme.

Mr Raymond said that in Australia the trend was more about affluence.

"People wanted to be buried with the totems that they felt represented their lifestyle", he explained.

The article goes on to say that there is a service in South Africa that will even put a number of batteries in the coffin just in case the dead person wakes up much later and finds their own battery has run out.

The idea isn't as far fetched or crazy as it may sound. In accident times, the Egyptians were often buried with their passions, sometimes including their favourite pets.

Those looking to save some time, might want to consider the coffin phone booth from http://www.undergroundhumor.com. For $2795 you get the coffin and the phone in one.

Full tags

Phones, Mobile phones, Phones industry