According to several studies from J.D. Power, residential wireline companies that focus on finding newer, more effective ways of communicating with their customers have driven an increase in customer satisfaction. The newly released studies - covering wireline Internet, voice and video services - include the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study; the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study; and the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Residential Telephone Service Provider Satisfaction Study.
"It is clear wireline companies are putting the customer experience first, and it is paying off," said Ian Greenblatt, technology, media and telecom practice lead at J.D. Power. "Finding ways to make call centers more efficient and clarifying billing statements and contracts are just a few relatively easy things companies can be doing to improve the customer experience. Additionally, methods in which companies are communicating service and product updates have been evolving with the technology itself and has proven to be a valuable approach to high customer satisfaction."
Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study
Verizon ranks highest in the East region (750); AT&T/DirecTV ranks highest in the North Central region (717) and the South region (749); and Cable One ranks highest in the West region (722).
Residential Telephone Service Provider Satisfaction Study
Verizon ranks highest in the East region (768); AT&T/DirecTV ranks highest in the North Central region (747) and South region (776); and Cox Communications ranks highest in the West region (751).
Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study
DISH Network performs highest in overall satisfaction in the national segment with a score of 753. DISH Network ranks highest in the North Central region (754) and West region (749). AT&T/DirecTV ranks highest in the East region (767) and South region (765).
The annual wireline studies, now in their 17th year, evaluate residential customers' experiences with TV, Internet and phone services in four geographical regions: East, South, North Central and West. The ISP and telephone studies measure customer satisfaction across five factors: network performance and reliability; cost of service; billing; communication; and customer service. The TV study measures satisfaction in those same five factors plus programming.
The 2018 U.S. wireline studies are based on responses from 27,765 customers nationwide who evaluated their cable/satellite TV, high-speed Internet and telephone service providers. The studies were fielded in four waves: November 2017, January-February 2018, April-May 2018 and July 2018.