As wireless technology continues to evolve and consumers become more
reliant on their wireless devices for communication, network carriers
are facing increased pressure to expand their services and improve call
quality while meeting growing consumer demand. So how is the industry
performing? According to a recent study by J.D. Power and Associates,
the wireless communications industry, following several years of
continued improvement in network quality, has hit a plateau, though
parity among network providers has clearly increased. The J.D. Power and Associates 2009
Wireless Call Quality StudySM—Volume 1 reveals that
network quality has held steady during the past 18 months, as the
number of problems reported by consumers has remained virtually
unchanged at 15 problems per 100 (PP100) calls (a lower score reflects
fewer problems and higher quality).
But while overall industry performance has remained the same, the
quality gap among the major providers included in the study has closed
significantly. There is now less differentiation between the better-performing carriers and those that struggle
with network quality performance, compared with previous studies. This
trend toward greater market parity is primarily the result of decreases
in reported problems by customers of AT&T and Sprint Nextel and
slight increases reported by customers of both Verizon Wireless and
Alltel.
The study also reveals interesting trends on calling activity. Did you
know that 52% of all wireless calls are made indoors today, while only
40% of calls in 2003 were made indoors? Furthermore, among all wireless
calls, 30% take place at home, 12% at work, and 10% inside other
structures, such as shopping malls. This trend is likely the result of
landline displacement, as many customers today are confident enough in
their wireless service provider’s network quality to remove their
traditional landline. And just as wireless customers have supplanted
much of their traditional landline calling with wireless calling, they
have increasingly replaced calls they would have placed on their
wireless handset with text messages. In 2009, the average number of
text message notifications per month is nearly 100—more than double the
amount reported just 1 year ago (47).
More highlights from the study:
- The average number of wireless calls made or received continues to rise, and is currently at 117 calls per month.
- AT&T has improved from 19 PP100 in the 2008 Vol. 2 study to 17 PP100 in the new 2009 Vol. 1 study, driven by improvements in Calls with echoes; Calls with voice distortion ; and Voice message notification failure.
- Sprint Nextel has reduced reported problems from 17 PP100 to 16 PP100 during this same period, its most notable improvement being a reduction in Calls with voice distortion.
- Verizon Wireless continues to be the industry leader in network performance overall, though it did experience an increase of 1 PP100 for Calls not connected.
- Alltel experienced several significant increases in reported problems. The company’s performance in Dropped calls; Calls not connected; and Voice message notification failure all contribute to its decline in overall performance.
About the Study
The 2009 Wireless Call Quality Performance Study—Volume 1 is based on
responses from 27,754 wireless customers. The study was fielded between
July and December 2008. The semi-annual study measures wireless call
quality based on seven problem areas that impact overall carrier
performance: dropped calls; static/interference; failed connection on
the first try; voice distortion; echoes; no immediate voicemail
notification; and no immediate text message notification.
For more information:
- View Wireless Call Quality Ratings
- View other Telecom Ratings
- Read the press release
- Read more Telecom articles
