The complexity of smartphones could create a support headache for mobile operators, research claims.

Operators risk rising user support costs, user frustration and lost revenues unless they are able to manage users' devices more effectively, according to a consumer survey commissioned by mobile software firm Intuwave.

Around 44 per cent of smartphone customers are now using the devices for email, and a further 19 per cent are keen to use them for email but do not currently do so.

But the Intuwave research suggests that the complexity of smartphones will cause a headache for mobile operators.

"Growth in the number of devices on the market, and the desire to use smartphones for email, mean that user difficulty with email is the number one problem for mobile network operators' support staff at the current time," the study claimed.

Andrew Wyatt, vice president of strategic marketing at Intuwave, said in a statement: "Despite the best efforts of point-of-sale staff or device manufacturers, it will be primarily the mobile service provider that gets the support call when customers start to explore and use the capabilities of their new devices and encounter difficulty."