Picture messaging was meant to save the mobile phone industry from drowning in a sea of unsustainable bank debt. But it's pretty obvious it won't. Even sex is hard to sell on these new picture-enabled devices. What could really be the saviour of the telecom sector is new technology that enables users to send and receive emails anytime and anywhere.

Telecom executives and battered shareholders are hoping this roaming technology will be the killer application that saves their bacon.

Merging computers and mobiles to allow us to send more gossip to each other sounds horrendous. But most analysts expect email-ready mobiles to take off. Already retailers report that personal digital assistant (PDA) phone devices that include small keyboards suitable for the task are 'flying off the shelves'. The next generation of devices could well reinvigorate previously flagging phone sales.

'This is a definite growth area. The technology fulfils the basic human instincts of communication and self-expression,' said Stephen Pentland, partner with Spectrum, a leading technology consultancy. 'It meshes information, entertainment and communication in one device.'

It is expected that the business world will eventually seize on this new breakthrough, which will combine email, phone, calendar and sales inventory in one PDA. T-mobile estimates an average of 53 minutes of every working day could be freed up handling emails on the train or while waiting for meetings. There soon won't be any excuses left.

Already such diverse organisations as WPP, the advertising giant, Viacom, the media conglomerate and Rotherham Council have signed up for a large section of their workforces to use such services. More come online every day.

Pretty soon, workers will always be contactable. Spectrum expects text messaging to grow from 15 per cent of average revenue per unit to 25 per cent within 18 months. Instead of lugging a laptop and finding a phone socket to get access to a company, a simple sim card plugged into a PDA or laptop will mean sales staff are always connected. This will have serious commercial benefits. Imagine you need your washing machine fixed. The repairer will know straight away whether there are spare parts by being able to access an inventory using what's known as a BlackBerry device - a small machine similar to a PDA.

A report last year by Deloitte Consulting Research found that mobile data was already delivering productivity gains, cost savings and was boosting revenues. An overwhelming 85 per cent of the UK's 50 largest companies now believe they have a real need for mobile data. All the major telecoms now sell email-on-the-move devices and services, although prices vary considerably. Mobile operators have traditionally applied a cost per megabyte model, which in a sense is a barrier to use the service because much business information is byte-hungry. For instance, Vodafone, which some analysts consider to have the best overall service, charges £149 for a mobile email connect card, then £5 per month for line rental and £2 per megabyte after that.

'Pricing of GPRS is currently a major issue for business solutions,' says Lars Vestergaard, research manager at IDC Mobile and Wireless Communications. 'Even with the advantages of GPRS, we have seen clear evidence that high pricing of business data services has been a major barrier for a more rapid uptake of obvious enterprise applications such as email.'

But earlier this year, Orange launched the first flat-rate GPRS pricing tariff. This pricing works across all email and access services for £30 per month, which seems a tad pricey, although this makes sense if you're a frequent user. 'Flat-rate pricing is the critical driver of mobile data uptake in the business market, in the same way that pay-as-you-go phones contributed to the growth in the con sumer market. Business customers can now budget for data solutions with clear cost savings,' explains Cynthia Gordon, marketing director at Orange Business Solutions.

The BlackBerry device available through Orange, Vodafone and others appears to be the gadget of choice. It is handheld and offers a permanent connection to your office computer system. Sending and receiving email using the BlackBerry keyboard is effortless and there is no need for dial-up or a complicated log-in. It works by linking a BlackBerry Enterprise Server to a user's current IT systems. Meanwhile Orange is selling what is known as SPV - a pocket PC from Microsoft - for £100. It signals a move away from the faithful laptop.

Vodafone Mail is like an answering service. It lets you receive and respond to email, voicemail and fax. Once you are set up you get an alert on your mobile whenever there is a message. You have the ability to forward messages so vital sales information can be transmitted to your workforce within seconds. Vodafone also offers a mobile alert service giving the first 190 characters of an email straight onto your phone. And most firms now offer a message centre service allowing you to dictate an email. Vodafone Office gives workers access to email, address lists and diary details using either Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes. But this has serious security implications. Imagine if these devices fell into the wrong hands.