Verizon tops J.D. Power consumer survey

PROVIDENCE – Verizon Wireless ranked the best among wireless providers when it comes to network quality in the Northeast, according to the semiannual J.D. Power 2016 Wireless Network Quality Performance Study, vol. 1.

All four major wireless carriers – Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint – were included in the J.D. Power study, which surveyed more than 41,000 wireless subscribers around the country from July through December about their experiences with their last 10 calls, messages, emails and Web connections on their mobile devices.

Verizon Wireless had a score of 10 problems per 100 network connections in the Northeast region, which included all New England states plus New York, beating the Northeast average of 12, T-Mobile’s score of 14pp100; and AT&T’s and Sprint’s scores of 15pp100 each. The lower the pp100 score, the better, J.D. Power said.

Verizon also ranked highest in five other regions in the U.S. – the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, North Central, Southwest and West. This was the third consecutive time Verizon ranked highest in all six regions, J.D. Power said.

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And, it is the second time in recent weeks that Verizon Wireless’ service was recognized. RootMetrics said Verizon’s service also was the best in Rhode Island and Providence County in its recent national Rootscore Report.

J.D. Power said its study, now in its 14th year, showed that wireless customers are becoming more sensitive to slow network connection issues and less tolerant when they occur as carriers face growing usage of 4G-compatible smartphones. Carriers also are facing mounting customer expectations for faster data speed and better network quality, J.D. Power said.

The study found that the number of customers using a 4G-enabled smartphone has risen sharply over the past two years, as have customer expectations for data speed and network quality.
“It’s imperative for carriers to understand customer expectations and meet their rising need for data speed, while working hard to reduce the incidence of slow network connections,” Kirk Parsons, senior director and technology, media and telecom practice leader at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “As the popularity of Web connections, video downloads and streaming grows, networks are handling more and more traffic each day. Wireless carriers must continue to invest in and improve network quality performance to meet customer expectations and keep them as customers for the long haul.”

Mike Haberman, vice president of network support for Verizon Wireless, said the company is pleased that it received another commendation for its network performance.

“It is in our DNA to engineer the very best network possible for our customers. To see our efforts to build and maintain a reliable network and lead in network innovation recognized by third parties is very exciting, because it means our customers are getting the best possible experience. That’s why we do what we do – for our customers.”

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