There are more than 40m US consumers, aged 18 or older, who would like email access on their mobile phones, a newly published survey has claimed.

"However, the key to success will be to listen to what consumers are saying and not just retro-fit enterprise-focused services. Consumer market segments, such as 18-24 year olds or mobile phone users over 35 who have high income but are not tech savvy, have different needs than business executive users."

According to the report, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of messaging software and services firm Critical Path, more than three quarters (82 per cent) of respondents want to be able to choose which emails reach them on their mobile phone, citing emails from their spouse or partner as most important.

The results show that consumers are extremely cost-conscious, with 71 per cent of respondents ranking 'low cost' as a very important feature of a mobile email service, followed by 'ease-of-use' at 63 per cent, and 'no need to upgrade devices' at 53 per cent. Additionally, 96 per cent of consumers are not willing to buy an expensive mobile phone just to get mobile email.

Less than half (49 per cent) of respondents indicated that they were aware of whether or not their existing mobile phone had email capabilities. In addition, just under a third of 18-34 year olds polled said that email on their mobile phones would make their lives easier, compared to just12 per cent of respondents over 55.

Mike Serbinis, chief technology officer of Critical Path, said: "There is a big opportunity for wireless carriers to drive data revenue with the consumer mobile email market, which is largely untapped.