Wireless service providers may finally be figuring out what consumers want.
The latest J.D. Power and Associates 2004 U.S. Wireless Regional Customer Satisfaction Index Study finds overall satisfaction performance with wireless service providers has increased 5 percent over 2003. That`s the first time a significant increase has been achieved on a year-to-year basis in three years.
Since the study was launched in 1995, overall wireless satisfaction performance has fluctuated in a downward trend based on a number of industry changes such as competitive expansion, mergers and key regulatory programs. These forces have made it difficult for carriers to meet customer expectations as wireless service gained mass appeal.
Carriers may be finally catching up with customer expectations, particularly in areas where the industry as been concentrating most of its financial resources.
For example, the call quality area receives the largest reported increase in satisfaction ratings over 2003 (increasing 7%), with coverage attributes such as "making calls outside local calling area" and "geographic size of local calling area" experiencing the biggest positive changes. Satisfaction with the cost of service has also risen significantly, mainly based on a strong increase in "fairness in roaming charges."
"It`s encouraging to see that industry-wide network improvements, especially in expanded coverage and aggressive service plan options that have lowered the average reported per-minute cost to 14 cents, have resulted in a more positive overall wireless service experience," said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates.
"However, consumer expectations will continue to rise as cell phone users increasingly rely on the communication functions of their cell phones beyond voice calling."
The study measures customer satisfaction based on 42 specific service-related measures grouped into six key factors that impact overall wireless carrier performance. These are (in order of importance):
• call performance and reliability (26%);
• customer service (17%);
• service plan options (17%);
• brand image (14%);
• cost of service (14%); and
• billing (12%).
Carriers are ranked across six regions in the United States.
T-Mobile performs particularly well in the study, ranking highest in all six regions (including four ties), largely by demonstrating a competitive advantage in customer service, service plan options, cost of service and billing. Verizon Wireless also ranks highest in a tie in four regions: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, North Central and West. Nextel is the only other provider to rank highest, tying with Verizon and T-Mobile in the North Central region.
The study finds several key wireless service usage patterns:
•Overall wireless household penetration has increased 5.4 percent from 2003, to 59 percent. The Northeast region has the highest household penetration with 62 percent, while the North Central region has the lowest penetration with 57 percent.
•Users report spending $55 per month on wireless service, a full $3 increase over 2003, marking the first spending increase since the study was launched.
•The average minutes included in a typical monthly service plan is 1,583. Only 60 percent of the total minutes in a typical service plan are used, on average.
•Thirty-two percent of wireless households say they have at least two or more family members sharing service plan minutes-a year-over-year increase of 52 percent.
•Wireless subscribers report receiving an average of 19 voice mail and 13 text messages per month-an increase from 2003 of 27 percent and 44 percent, respectively.
The 2004 U.S. Wireless Regional CSI Study is based on responses from 21,700 households.
