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Email applications on mobile phones consume 69 per cent of a network’s resources and contribute just 4 per cent of the total volume of data, according to a recent survey released by Bell Labs. This makes email the least efficient application to be used on 3G networks. While it has always been assumed that high data volumes meant high network resource utilization, this appears not to be the case.

Bell Labs’ Mike Schabel, speaking in London at a round table conference, said that web surfing, which is responsible for 70 per cent of data flow, utilizes just twelve per cent of the network’s resources. The problem, he claims, lies with internet-enabled phones - constant logging in to check new messages contributes to higher usage of resources. He suggested that network operators needed to take a fresh look at how email works on the network, focusing on how the data is sent rather than how much is being sent. Would mobile laptops be a better use of data resources? - click for free laptop with broadband info.

Every application uses resources with different efficiencies, and email is currently the main culprit. P2P networks, usually blamed for their high data flows, were actually among the most efficient users of network resources, Schabel claimed while addressing ZDNet, the tech website.

This study may lead to telecom operators working out solutions to improve efficiency on their wireless networks through better utilization of network resources. Bell Labs, which conducted the study, is the research wing of telecom equipment and applications major Alcatel-Lucent.