A display control section displays characters on a display screen of a display section. Character information data, including a plurality of character sizes, a plurality of character intervals, and a plurality of line spacings, are stored in a character data ROM or an EEPROM section. A control section determines an optimum display pattern in accordance with the length of a received message involved in a paging signal by adequately selecting the character information stored in the character information memory. There is an external input section for allowing a user to determine the display pattern in accordance with user's preference.