Verizon Wireless tops another network performance metric; with Sprint, T-Mobile US and AT&T Mobility fighting for scraps
Verizon Wireless continues to accumulate network performance accolades, with the latest coming from J.D. Power’s 2015 U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study, Vol. 2.
The consumer survey had Verizon Wireless ranked highest across all six regions covered, with the carrier’s network performance singled out for strong results in call quality, messaging quality and data quality. Verizon Wireless scored similar results in Vol. 1 of the survey earlier this year.
AT&T Mobility showed the next best level of performance, with a second-place ranking in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, North Central, Southwest and West regions, and a third-place finish in the Northeast.
T-Mobile US picked up the No. 2 spot in the Northeast; as well as tied for second in the Southeast and West regions; No. 3 in the Mid-Atlantic and North Central regions; and No. 4 in the Southwest region.
Sprint also scored part of the tie for second place in the Southeast region; was No. 3 in the Southwest region; scored a tie for third in the Northeast and North Central regions; and was No. 4 in the West and Mid-Atlantic regions.
J.D. Power said the survey included responses from 42,836 wireless customers compiled through the first half of 2015, and includes questions based on “10 problem areas of the customer experience: dropped calls; calls not connected; audio issues; failed/late voicemails; lost calls; text transmission failures; late text message notifications; Web connection errors; slow downloads; and e-mail connection errors.
Verizon Wireless earlier this month scored the top spot in RootMetrics’ ranking of carrier performance across the U.S., garnering first place in five of six separate categories through the first half of the year.
Outside of network performance, the latest J.D. Power survey tied customer loyalty to those experiencing fewer network quality issues. The company stated that 39% of customers reporting nine problems per 100 instances said they “definitely will not” switch carriers in the near future, compared with 20% of consumers that experienced more than 10 problems per 100 instances.
“Enhancing network performance to ensure customers consistently experience a high-quality connection – especially when using Internet-based services – can substantially improve loyalty for wireless carriers,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director and technology, media and telecom practice leader at J.D. Power. “This can be accomplished by deploying the latest technology to improve bandwidth efficiency, data connection speeds and reliability. To retain customers, it is essential for carriers to proactively expand and upgrade networks to align with the latest generation of services and devices, particularly those that rely on data speed and consistent connections, such as broadband devices.
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