Mobile phone data has overtaken voice traffic on the networks. In the last year alone there has been a 20-fold increase in data usage via mobile phones, driven by the increasing popularity of SmartPhones and applications (apps).

As a result the networks are moving away from unlimited data packages, which leave them open to ever increasing network load, and now limit users to amounts of 500MB, 750MB or 1GB as a rule.

Whilst ordinary consumers, used to streaming video and downloading to their phones, should be very aware of the new limits the average business mobile user should not have any problems with even the smallest limit of 500MB.

Business mobile email does not take up a lot of space (except where large attachments are sent). It is also possible to view the headers only of each mail so that you can identify it's content and importance before deciding whether to download, further reducing your download amount.

BlackBerry email remains the most popular option amongst business users and their proprietary email system compresses data being sent more than others resulting in lower bandwidth requirements.

Anyone contemplating using email or data on their mobile phone needs to ensure that they have the necessary tariff or bolt-on added to their account to keep costs down. Data usage outside of bundle is incredibly expensive.

You also need to be aware of roaming costs. Data usage overseas is not generally covered under a business mobile contract and costs per MB are extremely high. Bills in the thousands of pounds have been run up by unwitting travellers streaming their favourite TV show to their phone whilst on holiday.

New rules imposed by the EU now limit your bill to 50 euros as standard whilst roaming but you can opt out and if you do make sure you keep an eye on your usage.

Most new handsets now have the facility for email built-in as standard. They are easy to set up and configure for a variety of different types of account such as POP, Exchange, Gmail etc.

When selecting a handset if you are a heavy email user you need to think about input methods - a full standard QWERTY keyboard could make your life a lot easier and might be preferable to a touchscreen phone. Also screen size is an issue for ease of reading.

We can advise you regarding business mobile email and your choice of handsets. Contact us for your free business mobile quotation.