WASHINGTON-High-volume mobile-phone users are less likely to be “very satisfied” with their service quality, according to a study released July 10 by AARP.
“Consumers who use their cell phones regularly are more likely to know how often their calls are blocked or dropped or where their service does not work because of coverage gaps,” reads the report, “Understanding Consumer Concerns about the Quality of Wireless Telephone Service” written by Christopher Baker and Kellie Kim-Sung of AARP’s Public Policy Institute.
AARP has joined in the fight in favor of wireless local number portability. The study, which was completed late last year, showed only one-third of the respondents had very willingly switched providers, and many respondents considered local number portability and long-term contracts barriers to switching.
The lack of churn in the wireless industry is drastic compared with a 2000 AARP study of long-distance churn, which found that nearly 62 percent of respondents had switched long-distance carriers.
“Subscribers are essentially held captive in the wireless industry. That may not be a problem for some consumers, but if you are not happy with your service or want to switch providers for another reason, substantial obstacles may prevent you from making a change,” said Theresa Varner, director of AARP’s Public Policy Institute.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association has often highlighted the relatively few complaints received by the Federal Communications Commission, but the AARP study suggests that does not necessarily mean there is not discontent in the wireless marketplace. Only 4 percent of respondents said they would contact the FCC with their service-quality complaint, and 46 percent were not even aware that was an option.
CTIA questioned the presentation of AARP’s data. “The report’s presentation of the numbers and the explanation in their methodology section make it nearly impossible to make sense of the data. For example, in one chart, the AARP attempted to count the ‘Users who are ‘Less than very satisfied’ [who] have never switched their service provider.’ But, then many of the respondents in that same chart are labeled ‘Satisfied with their current provider,’ ” said CTIA spokesman Travis Larson. “The language and the math are right out of Alice in Wonderland. We need to see the underlying data and polling questions to get back on the proper side of the looking glass.”
