By Telecom
Lead Team: Verizon Wireless ranked highest in five regions in
J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance
Study – Volume 1, while U.S. Cellular ranked highest in one region.
For a 15th consecutive reporting period, Verizon Wireless
ranks highest in the Northeast region. The company also ranks highest in the
Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest and West regions.
U.S. Cellular ranks highest for a 13th consecutive
reporting period in the North Central region.
The semiannual study evaluates wireless customers’ most
recent usage activities in three areas that impact network performance:
calling, messaging and data.
According to JD Power study, overall wireless network problem incidence
has increased from 2011, driven primarily by issues with data services
including mobile Web and email. The study assessed 10 problem areas that
affected customer experience: dropped calls; calls not connected; audio issues;
failed/late voicemails; lost calls; text transmission failures; late text
message notifications; Web connection errors; email connection errors; and slow
downloads.
“The ways and places wireless customers use their
devices have changed considerably during the past several years,” said
Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and
Associates. “For instance, in 2012, 58 percent of all wireless calls are
made indoors – where wireless connections can be harder to establish and
maintain–compared with only 40 percent in 2003. In addition, the rapid
expansion of smartphone usage has also changed the ways in which wireless
customers use their devices, which also impacts network quality.”
Data-related issues, including mobile Web and email
problems, have steadily grown more prevalent since the beginning of 2011.
Problem incidence for mobile Web connections, excessively slow mobile Web
loading and email connection errors averaged 16 PP100 in the first half of
2011, which increased significantly during the Volume 1 reporting period for
the 2012 study (July to December 2011), to an average of 19 PP100.
On average, between July and December 2011, wireless
customers indicate that they connected to the mobile Web or used mobile email
20 times within a 48-hour period, which translates to 300 mobile Web connections
per month, on average. This is an increase from 285 times per month, on
average, during the previous six months.
“Based on varying degrees of consistency with
overall network performance, it’s critical that wireless carriers continue to
invest in improving both the voice quality and data connection-related issues
that customers continue to experience,” said Parsons.
To realize financial benefits, wireless network providers
must provide high-performing networks. Among customers who switch to a new carrier
to obtain better network coverage, average monthly spending
is $17 higher, compared with customers who switch for other reasons.
Verizon Wireless achieves fewer customer-reported
problems with dropped calls, initial connections, transmission failures and
late text messages, compared with regional average. Compared with the
regional average, U.S. Cellular has fewer customer-reported problems with
dropped calls, failed initial connections, audio problems, failed voice mails
and lost calls.
The 2012 U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study
– Volume 1 is based on responses from 27,438 wireless customers.
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