Beams of Money

DAISUKE TANAKA’s daily commute has gotten a lot simpler in recent weeks now that he can pay for all his train tickets with his mobile phone. To travel Tokyo’s trains, subways and even some taxis, all he needs to do is to waive his mobile near the now standard card reader. He has also download ed software for several prepaid and credit cards, turning his mobile phone into a replacement for his wallet. “I haven’t touched my wallet at all today,” he said one recent evening.

The mobile wallet was announced by NTT Docomo with great fanfare back in 2004, when the technology first became  available in Japan, but so far it’s been a dud — fewer than one in five owners of a mobile-wallet handset has ever used it to pay for anything. Mobile wallets are accepted at too few places, say experts. That’s now changing quickly, however. New services are rolling out so fast, 2007 is emerging as the year of the mobile wallet in Japan.

Assinale a alternativa que apresenta o uso correto do termo “fewer” como no exemplo — “fewer than one in five owners of a mobile-wallet handset” —, no segundo parágrafo do texto.