Have you cut the cord on the traditional landline in your home and turned exclusively to your wireless phone for day-to-day communications? If you have, you’re part of a growing number of wireless subscribers who see no reason to maintain two separate phone systems. The J.D. Power and Associates 2008 U.S. Wireless Contract Regional Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study
It shouldn’t be a surprising trend. Today’s wireless communications offer an expanding universe of services and activities that go well beyond simple voice calls. Text, video, and Internet connections are all part of the wireless service world. Customers report that their wireless experiences have improved to the point where quality and performance are no longer barriers in the decision making process to make the change over to an untethered existence. In fact, satisfaction with the overall experience is much higher among those who have decided to disconnect their landline versus those that still have the service in their home.
Familiarity also plays a role. Wireless subscribers ages 18 to 24 are more likely to have made the switch, with 29 percent reporting they disconnected their landline phone and use wireless service exclusively for all their communication activity. This compares to only 9 percent of subscribers ages 65 or older doing the same.
So which wireless providers provide the highest customer satisfaction for their subscribers? We analyze customer satisfaction based on six key factors that impact overall wireless carrier performance. In order of importance, they are: call quality (32%); brand image (17%); cost of service (14%); service plan options (14%); billing (12%); and customer service (11%). We further break down that measurement to rank carriers in s six regions in the United States: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, North Central, Southwest and West.
One company stands out in customer rankings. Verizon Wireless ranks highest in five regions—Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, North Central and West—and performs particularly well with regard to call quality and brand image across each region. T-Mobile claims top ranking in the Southwest region, performing particularly well in cost of service, service plan options, billing and customer service.
For more information, view wireless service ratings or read the press release. Also go to Telecom at JDPower.com for information about wireless service, wireless retail sales, customer care, prepaid wireless service and business wireless service.
